The Agent and The Farmer
by Nova Edgewater
Summary: Jill is an agent with the FIA or the Federal Investigation Agency, sent on assignment to Forget-Me-Not Valley. Her mission: to find and stop the drugs from coming out of the island. However, when she finds out her mark is a sexy brooding farmer named Marlin. The hardened agent finds it difficult to keep her feelings separate from her work.
1. Prologue

"We want you on this Jillian," her boss insisted. "You either take this case, or take a forced leave of absence."

Jill glared at her boss. For the past four months she had been practically buried in paperwork. She was sick of paperwork and ready to be put back into the field. This was not what she had expected. She folded her arms over her chest, and leaned forward over the desk.

"This is crap Bob! You are seriously going to put me on this fluff assignment?" Jill had been with the Federal Investigation Agency for eight years now; she had joined right out of high school. Four years into it, she had been handpicked by Bob to be a part of his team on the Undercover Unit. She had a higher success rate than most of the agents on her team. Bob had started giving her a lot of the harder cases. The last case, however, had gone awry. "Come on Bob, I've passed all the psych evals. Don't do this to me. Put me on the Harrin case, you know my talents would be better suited there."

"This is non negotiable Agent Barre," Bob answered back. Jill sighed. She knew when he called her that he was serious, and there would be no arguing with him. She scowled at him.

"Where exactly am I going?" She asked not bothering to hide her displeasure. Bob smiled back at her and slid the yellow case file across the desk in front of her.

"It's called Forget-Me-Not Valley," Bob explained. "It's a small farming community, on Flower Bud Island, there are two small towns on the island, Forget-Me-Not Valley, and Mineral Town." Jill flipped open the file.

"Wait, I thought Takakura and Jack were already assigned there!"

"They are. But they seem to be hitting a brick wall. Takakura has it narrowed down to two families it could be. Neither he nor Jack seem to bet getting any closer. And Jack is not the best at dealing with people anyway. Listen I think they need some younger blood there," Bob stated.

"You're really sending me on a drug bust? Come on Bob this is ridiculous."

"Jill, there have been a lot of drugs going out of that Island. Our contacts in Mineral Town have not seen anything suspicious, so we've concluded that it must be in Forget-Me-Not Valley. It's secluded enough they'd be able to get away with it. Listen we're going to put you in as Jack's daughter, Jill Paxton. That has been his cover when he leaves Forget-Me-Not to come to the city. He says he is visiting his daughter. He is going to have met a tragic end on his next visit in a few days. So you need to be the grieving daughter. We've put some of the detailed background for you in the case file. Your mother is still going to be alive, that is who you will come see if you ever need to visit the city. The case file will help you catch up and learn what you need to know." Jill looked over at Bob again. She scanned the first page. Her words caught the word "Farmer." Her dissatisfaction intensified to disgust.

"Farming?" She burst out. "Like hell! You've got to be joking!" She tossed the case file back over to his side of the desk.

"Look Jill, we've thought this through, and after everything that happened with Agent Larkin, we feel that the peace of the country would do you some good," Bob explained.

"We?" Jill asked, her eyes narrowed in skepticism.

"The Director and I," Bob answered. The opposition in Jill quickly left. She would not ignore a direct order from the Director, and Bob knew that.

"You knew you had the trump card," Jill muttered as Bob eased the file back in front of her. She picked up the case file once again. Takakura and Jack had been stuck in Forget-Me-Not Valley for three years. She had met Takakura a few times and he had definitely not been one of her most favorite people. He was much older than her, and had acted as if she hadn't known anything. Jill looked up once again at Bob who had a satisfied smile on his face. She would have loved to reach across the desk and smack it off his face. This was going to be a long assignment.


	2. Chapter 1

She scanned the details of her cover once again. She had nearly memorized it in the two months since she'd been assigned. But she was always thorough no matter what case she had been assigned to. In her head she could hear Bob's last words of advice,"Trust no one." She slipped the file back into her smallest suitcase and locked it. It was the suitcase with all of the important things she would need for the case.

Forget-Me-Not was on a small remote island. It was so remote that she was traveling there by boat instead of by plane. She had been on the ship for four hours, and was starting to feel queasy. There was a light knock on the door of the cabin she'd been given.

"What?" Jill's tone was authoritative and terse. Her irritation came through in her voice. The young ship hand, who'd been introduced as Paolo, slowly opened the door with a timid look on his face.

"Sorry ma'am. Captain Pascal wanted me to inform you that we're about five minutes from land."

"Sorry, being on water puts me on edge." She put on her most brilliant smile. _Be charming Jill_. The young man smiled sympathetically back.

"Yeah that happens. Can I help you with your luggage ma'am" He went to reach for the suitcase she had just locked.

"No!" The man jumped back. "I mean...I-I can take that one. The other one's are heavier." she lied. She posted the sweet innocent smile back on her face. She picked up the suitcase and followed the young man outside the door and out onto to the deck of the ship.

* * *

Marlin waited patiently leaning against his truck. The rest of the villagers were gathered around Pascal's ship waiting impatiently for their shipments. Marlin was in no hurry. He liked this time of the week. He liked being away from the farm and Forget-Me-Not Valley. Even though Mineral Town was not much bigger, it was still bigger.

He watched as a petite girl stepped off the boat, looking slightly bewildered and a little overwhelmed. She scanned the crowd of people. Her eyes caught Marlin's and she quickly looked away in embarrassment. This must be Jack's daughter. He had heard rumors she was coming today. This small girl was going to run the farm? He chuckled to himself. He would like to see that. She looked very different from Jack. Jack had been tall and stocky, everything about this girl seemed small. She kept looking around, until Takakura came up to her. She seemed to relax a bit more. He quickly lost interest in the girl, and started walking slowly forward to get the shipment Vesta had ordered.

"Afternoon Marlin," Pascal greeted. "Here's the shipment of stuff you ordered. You see that little bit of the thing come off the boat? That's Jack's daughter, can you imagine her running a farm?" Pascal's sentiments echoed Marlin's thoughts exactly.

"Can't say that I can," Marlin answered back.

"Reckon she'll be over at your place a lot to get some tips," Pascal said teasingly.

"I'm sure Vesta will like that," Marlin muttered.

"She sure is a pretty little thing don't ya think?" Pascal asked. Marlin shrugged. He had noticed that she was pretty, but he wasn't really interested in getting into anything with the new girl. He picked up the few supplies Vesta had ordered.

"See ya next week Pascal," Marlin said.

"Sure thing," Pascal replied.

* * *

"Is this Forget-Me-Not?" Jill asked as she climbed into the Jeep with Takakura. She had been so happy to get her feet on solid ground again. She had never been one that liked boats, nor being on the water. Takakura chuckled.

"No ma'am, this is Mineral Town. This is the larger town on the island. Forget-Me-Not's a twenty minute drive through the Mountain Pass from here." Jill looked around. _This is the bigger town?_

Downtown Mineral Town, if you could call it such, consisted of five or six different businesses. She had seen a church farther north, and a few farms to the south. If this was the bigger town, she cringed to know what Forget-Me-Not Valley was like. Sighing, she unlocked her suitcase and pulled out her gun and holster.

"You will not need that here," Takakura assured.

"It's habit." Jill said.

"Better find a good way to hide that. People here don't own guns. In fact most are actually bothered by the sight of one. Jack had his once, and people freaked out. He had to make up some story about wild dogs trying to come and attack the chickens." Jill sighed again and placed the gun back into the suitcase. At least she still had her knives that she could easily conceal.

"So what do you know about him?" Jill asked, knowing that Takakura had been briefed earlier in the week. She had seen her mark leaning against an old beat up pick up truck, the minute she had stepped off the boat. She had recognized him from the photo she had of him in her case file. He had looked taller than she expected, and there was something intriguing about the look of indifference that was on his face. She had quickly looked away as if she'd been embarrassed, and continued to look confused and bewildered. Jill was always paying attention to small details such as that while on a mission. She never underestimated the small details. It was why she had always been so good, and why she had been chosen for the Undercover Unit in the first place

"He's rough, and comes off as abrasive. He seems like a solid man though. Unsure of his involvement," Takakura explained as if reading off his case notes.

"How about anything not in your report?" Jill asked slightly annoyed, knowing he had done that on purpose.

"Likes to drink. Spends his evening at the Blue Bar, every evening except Sundays and Festivals. Arrives at 7 or shortly there after. Drinks Bourbon. Only one glass. Sits alone in the corner booth. Moved here two years ago from the city. All the girls have crushes on him. I think he may have a fling going on with one of 'em, but rumor is that it's nothin' serious. He doesn't really seem to want to get involved with women."

"Oh great. How the hell am I supposed to get him to be interested in me then?" Jill asked. Takakura shrugged.

"I dunno, I've heard you're good at that kinda stuff. I'm sure you'll figure something out."

She could hear the faint disdain in his voice. She turned to glare at him, but he was staring ahead at the road. Jill turned back to the case file, going over some more notes. Her earlier impression of this case did not alter any. It was going to be a long one.

* * *

Jill settled herself onto a bar stool at the Blue Bar. She glanced at her watch. Five minutes to seven, he would be coming the bar soon according to Takakura. She smoothed out a wrinkle in the purple sweater. She had decided to wear her hair down, knowing that it gave her a more innocent look. It also made her look prettier. She had spend several minutes trying to find her way to conceal her knives. The rest of her weapons she had placed in the lock box in her home. Afterwards she changed the combination. She wasn't sure if she trusted Takakura yet. She had trusted her former partner... She shook her head. She was not going to think about that right now.

The bar was small, containing of three booths and four tables. The booths had a light blue vinyl covering the seats that looked faded and worn, and the cushions looked like most of the padding in them had disintegrated years ago. There was an ancient looking Juke box standing in the back corner that was playing out a sad crooning tune at the moment. It was dimly lit, and a large "no smoking" sign was posted above the bar. The tables had old faded wooden chairs and there were scrapes and nicks on the table tops. The wood floor also had some cracks in it. It was clean, however, and there was a very welcoming feel to it.

The blonde bar maid sauntered up, she had introduced herself as Muffy. She wore a tight red low cut dress, covered by a light blue almost white three quarter length sleeve cardigan. Her lips were painted with bright red lipstick, and her thick mane of blonde curls was held back with a sequined black headband. She wore black stilettos that made her long milky white legs appear even more shapely.

"What can I get you?" She asked in a cheery, yet sultry tone.

"Bourbon?" Jill ordered. At least the man liked a drink that she could appreciate. She watched as the blonde bombshell slowly poured the drink.

"You might as well pour another one," a gruff voice behind her stated. Jill whirled around and met the bright blue eyes of the man belonging to that voice. He looked even taller when she was standing close to him. He simply nodded in her direction.

"Marlin!" Muffy cooed. She grabbed another glass and poured the man a drink. "Have you met Jill?" Marlin shook his head, and returned his gaze on Jill. Jill looked down at the counter then back up at him trying her best to convey shyness. From her snap assessment, he didn't seem like the type of man who would appreciate an overly forward woman.

"You're Jack's daughter right?" the man asked. She nodded. Shy and quiet Jill Paxton was so different than her real personality. "Haven't met many other people who like Bourbon." Muffy set the glass in front of Jill.

"My grandfather used to drink it all the time. When my mother wasn't looking he'd let me have a sip." This had been a real memory. She remembered sitting on her grandfather's lap while he drank his Bourbon. At first she hadn't liked it, but over the years she had acquired a taste for it. She took a sip from the glass allowing the heat to roll down her chest.

"Oh." The man said, then walked away to a corner booth, and sat alone.

"Not too friendly is he?" Jill asked the blonde.

"Marlin?" Muffy chuckled lightly. "Ah he's a real good guy once you get to know him. Tends to be a bit blunt and abrasive, but he's a solid man. Good looking too. I've tried to catch his eye a few times, but he never really seems interested. I hear he's got a thing with Celia, the girl who lives on the farm with his sister and him. But rumor is, that's not going to last too long. Maybe when that's done, he'll want to take a swing with me." Jill took another sip of Bourbon to avoid sighing. This was going to be a tougher assignment than she thought. If the beautiful blonde standing in front of her couldn't get his attention, than she didn't stand a chance.

* * *

Marlin sat in his usual booth, taking a long sip from his glass of Bourbon. It had been a long day. He had tried to end his little fling with Celia, but the girl had taken it much harder than he'd anticipated.

He watched the small girl talking to Muffy. He had been shocked to see such a small girl order such a strong drink. He couldn't help but smile. Standing next to her, she had appeared even shorter than she had looked on the dock. There was something striking about her. Perhaps it was her eyes. He had never seen anyone with eyes that color. They were almost violet in color, set by that frame of mahogany hair. There was definitely something appealing about the girl.

Marlin watched as another blond approached the girl. Rock was everything Marlin was not: smooth, sophisticated and charming. Girls seemed to fall for his charms easily. He always had the company of one of the girls in Forget-Me-Not or Mineral Town. He watched as the petite girl seemed to rebuff his advances. Rock continued to hit on the girl until she turned her back on him completely. Marlin's impression of the girl rose a bit more. She had an air of sophistication that the other girls in Forget-Me-Not seemed to lack. Maybe it was because she had just moved from the city, but there was definitely something intriguing about the small farmer's daughter.

* * *

Jill stared at the beautiful fields before her. She had survived one night in Forget-Me-Not Valley. The fields before her seemed to go on forever. It was a stark contrast to the to the property that she now called "home." But this was an absolutely gorgeous sight. She had lived in the city her whole life and had never encountered a sight such as this before. She hadn't expected the country to look so beautiful.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked close to her ear.

Jill jumped, reaching for the knife she had hidden in her belt, but them remembered where she was. She whirled around to face Marlin. How had he snuck up her like that? She knew of very few people who had ever been able to sneak up on her. Had she really been that lost in thought? If she had, she needed to be more careful. She could get herself killed that way. She converted back to Jill Paxton.

"I..." She looked at the ground. "I'm here to see Vesta. Takakura said I could buy seeds here." She looked up shyly. He really was a beautiful man.

"She's inside," Marlin pointed towards the building on the southwest corner of the farmland.

"Thank you kindly...Um..." Jill looked back up at Marlin. "I'm sorry was it Matt?"

"Marlin."

"Oh ok. thank you, Marlin. I'm sorry, I'm terrible with names. I think I inherited that from my mom. She never remembers anyone's name." Jill suddenly covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry. I tend to ramble on when I am nervous." She smiled at the man before her, who hid a smile of his own. She was actually starting to enjoy the role of the shy farm girl more than she had thought she would. "Well I'm gonna head in to see Vesta." She turned, and putting a hint of a skip into her step, headed for the building that Marlin had pointed to.

* * *

Later that evening Jill crept over to Vesta's farm. According to the case report Vesta and Celia stayed in Mineral Town on Friday nights. Vesta had a man in Mineral Town, and Celia visited her family. Takakura went into Mineral Town as well to hand in the case report and visit with a lady friend of his.

Jill had taken this as an opportunity to search the farm and see what she could find to help her case along. She looked at her watch it was 8 pm, Marlin should be at the bar by now. She had dressed in a dark blue blazer and darker jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She had about an hour and half till Marlin would be leaving Blue Bar. She needed to be able to search the farm in peace. As an extra precaution she knocked on the door. She waited a few seconds and reached for the lock pick set in her pocket. Suddenly the door opened, and Marlin stood before her.


	3. Chapter 2

Note: This is kind of a fluff chapter, not a whole lot of action or anything else. But I wanted to put Marlin and Jill into a situation where Marlin would start seeing Jill as attractive. This was the best I could come up with. Slightly cheesy and a bit cliche, but I think it works.

* * *

"What?" Marlin growled, staring at the small wide eyed girl standing in his doorway. He inwardly groaned. It had been one of those days where anything and everything that could go wrong, did. He had been cursing his body all day long for being so weak. Some days were worse and some days were better. Today had been one of the worse days. Of course, he would not let on to Celia or Vesta as to how he was really feeling. They tended to be overbearing otherwise. Celia had been utterly aggravating switching back in forth between yelling at him, or pleading with him to "take her back." As if what had transpired between them could be called or even considered a relationship. Vesta had then thrown some "important" paper work at him that needed to be done, as she was anxious to go to Mineral Town to visit her lover. He had just barely finished with the day and was ready to do nothing more other than take a hot shower and flop into bed, when he had heard the soft knock.

"S-sorry to bother you," Jill stammered. She continued to stare at him. "I just did not know what else to do, I heard some strange noises coming from inside my house. I came here, since you are the closest neighbors to me." Her large violet eyes fixed on his pleadingly.

"Sure it wasn't Takakura?" Marlin asked raising an eyebrow. Jill shook her head.

"Positive. He went to Mineral town for the night with the Jeep." She wrapped her thin arms around her chest and hugged herself tightly. Marlin let out a deep groan. The poor girl looked so completely frightened, how could he possibly say no to her? "C-can you come check it out with me?"

Come on let's go," he grumbled.

"Thank you!" she gushed.

"Yeah whatever," he muttered, and led the girl to his pickup.

Marlin turned his headlights off, as he slowly pulled up into Jill's driveway. The small farmhouse looked dark. Not a single light in the house was on. Nothing looked suspicious or out of place.

"Wait here," he ordered. Jill looked more than willing to comply. He crept up to the house and stood with his ear to the door. Silence. He slowly lifted his hand and tried to turn the doorknob. It didn't budge. The door was locked. He strode back over to the pick up and opened the passenger side door. "I didn't hear anything, and your door is locked."

"Oh let me give you my... Shit!" Jill exclaimed. "I must have locked my keys in my house!" She lowered her head to the dashboard in frustration. It suddenly popped back up. "Wait! I think Takakura has a spare key."

"Which one's his house?" Marlin asked.

Jill pointed to the small building on the corner of the farm. He turned to walk over to the tiny building, Jill jumped out of his truck and followed him closely. The knob to Takakura's door didn't move in his hand either. Marlin cursed under his breath.

"It's locked too," Marlin stated.

"Is there some sort of locksmith we can call?"

"Well Gotz is the carpenter in Mineral Town," Marlin answered. "He can probably get the door unlocked, but I can guarantee you he won't be answering the phone right now."

"Oh yeah, I suppose it is really late," Jill sighed. Marlin just nodded. He was not one to spread around the private affairs of others. Marlin knew the real reason Gotz would not answer the phone is because the carpenter at this moment would be with his sister, Vesta. He tried not to think of the implications of that thought. "What am I going to do for the night?"

"What?" He asked.

"Oh I was just talking to myself," Jill replied. "I am just not sure what I am going to do." Marlin looked at her again. She looked so lost and helpless as she stared at the door to her house. She bit her bottom lip, and turned to him. "Could I get you to drive me to the Inn?"

"The Inn closed at eight."

"Crap," Jill sighed. She leaned against the door of her house sighing. Her eyes were closed in frustration, and she rubbed her face with her hands. "I suppose I could just sleep in the barn, there's some old horse blankets in there, and they hay's probably soft enough for a bed."

Marlin knew somehow he would regret the words that were going to come out of his mouth next, but he did not see any other option. Vesta would wring his neck if she'd found out that he'd allowed the girl to sleep in her barn. "Vesta and Celia are in Mineral Town for the night, if you want to crash at our place you can."

"Oh I wouldn't want to impose." Jill stated.

"Do you see any other option?" Marlin asked a little too roughly. She shook her head. "Well come on then." He started walking back to his truck.

* * *

Jill settled with a satisfied sigh on the couch in Vesta's farmhouse. In truth, she had accidentally locked her keys in the house, stupid mistake on her part. She could have easily picked the lock, but she was not about to let Marlin know about that particular skill she possessed.

When Marlin had answered the door, she almost lost composure. But she was able to quickly recover. She was grateful at the moment for her overcautious mind and believed she had managed pull of the "scared city girl hearing noises" ruse pretty well. It was that type of quick thinking that had gotten Jill out of similar situations before. This wasn't quite how she had planned on the evening turning out, but she would work with what she had. Marlin had seemed less than thrilled with the prospect of having her spend the night at his house. Jill actually had not planned on that either The last thing she needed was for him to think that she was just some annoyance or a burden. But she would find a way to turn this to her advantage. Her mind spun, she needed to find a way to make him less angry.

When she had been handed the assignment by Bob, she had called it a "fluff" assignment. She had thought this assignment was going to be a waste of her talents. But she was only two days in, and already was having a more difficult time with her objective than other objectives she'd been given. This time it was not just about the physical aspect of her. Jill had grown accustomed to the men in the city, who would swoon for her when she wore a lower cut dress and showed some leg. She had perfected the "innocent" vixen ruse. Clearly if Muffy's advances hadn't worked on Marlin, that approach would not work for her either.

Marlin had given her a set of pajamas to change into. The pants had been way too long and large. The shirt came almost down to her knees anyway, so she had opted to skip the pants. He had told her to make herself comfortable and he was going to take a shower. She was perched on the soft plushy couch combing through her mess of hair with her fingers, trying not to think about what he would look like with the hot water streaming down on him. Instead she focused on a way to flip this situation to her advantage.

* * *

Marlin emerged from the shower room, feeling some of the stress of the day melted away. He was happy the day was almost over. When he saw Jill sitting on the couch with her right leg tucked under her, wearing only his pajama shirt, he froze. The little tension that had been released in the shower came back tenfold. Her legs were very well toned, and had nice muscle definition, not quite what he'd expected from the petite girl. They had a nice soft tan left over from summer, and were barely covered by the shirt she was wearing. What in Goddess' name was this girl trying to do to him? He closed his eyes for a moment thinking about how nice it would be to have a woman's touch after a hard day like today. It had been a while since he'd been with a woman. He cursed to himself. He would not think about that! Jill's head popped up and looked at him. He struggled for a moment to gain his composure.

"You can take my bed," He scowled. He pointed down the hall to where his room was located. Jill uncurled her right leg from underneath her, and stood up. Marlin looked away. Seeing her dressed as she was standing before him was almost more than he could handle. He felt her soft hand against his arm.

"Thank you so much Marlin, for everything," she whispered. A few moments later he heard her soft footsteps go down the hall into his room. He let out a long breath. The next day could not come fast enough so he could get her safely back into her own home.


	4. Chapter 3

Note: In this chapter I am hoping to reveal Jill's past, and why she is the way she is. There will be very little actual dialogue or interaction between Jill and other characters, this is mainly going to be Jill's reflections and strategies. I am hoping this chapter will reveal a little bit about who Agent Jill Barre is, as opposed to Jill Paxton.

* * *

"Marlin what the hell?" Vesta demanded. Marlin's sister stood with both hands on her hips, lower jaw protruded out and head cocked to the side. Marlin had seen this look too many times before. He fully prepared himself for a full blown lecture. "I swear Marlin if you did ANYTHING to take advantage of that poor sweet girl I will cut off parts of your body that I am pretty sure you want to keep!" It came out sounding only slightly less intimidating because she was whispering. Vesta had come home as usual bright and early to start with morning chores, and Jill had still been sleeping soundly when she arrived. Marlin also had been sleeping, on the couch, when Vesta had rudely pulled him awake.

"I didn't do anything!" Marlin hissed back. "Why the hell do you think I'm on the couch!"

"Well what am I supposed to think, there's a girl sleeping in your bed? You had better not done anything! I will not have you messing around with her emotions like you have Celia's. She's a sweet girl!" Marlin groaned, it was too damn early in the morning to be having this conversation, and he was still tired from last night's events. Didn't help that seeing JIll's shapely legs had made him feel like he was once again back in high school with all the hormones raging through his body. He shouldn't have been that turned on by the sight of legs. Maybe it had been too long. He had not done anything like that with Celia precisely for the reasons his sister was yelling at him for. He had not wanted to use the girl, and he specifically had NOT been trying to mess with her emotions. Marlin concluded that Celia must have informed Vesta of all the "gory" details of the "break up" on the drive to Mineral Town the previous night.

"So just what the hell happened?" Vesta asked, her eyes narrowed.

"She thought she heard something in her house. She came over here, asked me to check it out. When we got there house was locked. She'd locked her keys in her house. It was late. The Inn was closed, and she was going to sleep in her barn. I figured here would be better," he explained.

"Want to explain what she's doing in your bed?" Vesta asked.

"I didn't think it would be appropriate to offer your bed or Celia's bed without either one of your consent, so I offered mine," Marlin answered.

"Well, little bro, I certainly hope for you case you were a gentleman," Vesta warned. At that moment Jill emerged from Marlin's bedroom, gratefully, fully dressed in the clothes she had been wearing the previous night; a large sweater and a pair of baggy carpenter style jeans. Marlin was happy that her clothes left everything to the imagination, because even as she was standing there fully clothed, he could still see the image of her bare legs in his mind. _Good Goddess Marlin, snap out of it, it's not like you're some hormonal teenager! _He chastised himself.

"Good morning dear! Marlin told me about your little mishap last night, did you sleep well?" Vesta's voice had turned from full on scolding, to welcoming hostess. It always amazed Marlin how quickly Vesta could change her demeanor.

"I did, thank you," Jill replied, "I just feel bad for being so much trouble to your brother."

"Trust me honey you weren't," Vesta answered. _Like, hell she wasn't_, Marlin thought, but let the subject drop. Vesta was already pissed at him about Celia, didn't need her being pissed at him about Jill. He ran his fingers through his messy mop of black hair, and exhaled deeply. This was going to be another less than stellar day.

* * *

_I need to be more careful! _Jill thought to herself while she was pulling out some weeds from her field. They seemed to multiply exponentially overnight. There had already been massive amounts when she'd arrived. It had been clear that Takakura had done nothing to the farm, except animal upkeep during the time when Jack had "passed away," and his doting "daughter" had arrived.

Many agents would have halfheartedly done the farm work, focusing heavily on the case. That is where most agents made their mistakes. Under cover work was not simply about the case. That is where the intricacies of her position came into play. Bob had once told her, "To be a truly good undercover agent, one has to actually 'become' the person they are trying to portray." Jill took that above and beyond what most agents did. She had become so many personalities over the past four years, she sometimes didn't even remember what her true personality was.

In the same token, that was her favorite part of the job. Jill loved being able to create a personality for the fictional person she was portraying. It was similar to acting in a movie role, except this had more at stake if mistakes were made. Jill was usually very good at creating the exact type of personality that her mark was looking for. She very rarely miscalculated, and therefore was very rarely replaced. With very few exceptions, her cases ended in arrests. The most recent exception being her last case. As many times as Bob had assured her it had not been her fault, she could not help but feel as if it had been. She should have seen the signs. But she and Agent Larkin had been partners for three out of the four years she had been on the Undercover Unit. She had mistakenly broken her father's rule number one: "The only person you can ever trust is yourself." She had trusted Agent Larkin.

Jill had been raised to be an agent. From a very young age her father trained her to be a cold, calculating investigative machine. After school he would take her outside to do some rigorous physical training, target practicing with both knives and guns, and various forms of martial arts or fighting. Jill knew many different ways to kill a person using her bare hands alone without leaving a mark. Her mother's meek and obeying personality had not interfered with this father/daughter training time. It was the reason why she had been accepted into the FIA program right out of high school. Most applicants had a mandatory two year waiting period where they would go to college and get some general education credits. FIA of course took over if they were accepted, and they would finish their degrees while training to be an agent. Jill had been fast tracked due to some strings her father had pulled, and her natural ability. Very few exceptional applicants were fast tracked the way she was. Naturally, she had been expected to join FIA. She had never even contemplated any other line of work.

She had followed in her father's footsteps easily. When Bob had selected her to be on his team, it had been by her merits, and her merits alone. She often felt she had to work harder than other agents to prove to herself that she deserved to be where she was. She had decided to use her mothers maiden name Barre when she became an agent to avoid people knowing her relationship to her father. Bob was one of the few people that knew that her father was a part of FIA.

Working in the Undercover Unit had it's challenges. Mostly because Jill would often be selected to become a romantic partner to a person of interest. She was chosen over other female agents not because of her looks, (several agents on the Undercover Unit were more beautiful than she was) but because one trait that Jill possessed that others did not. Jill Barre did not fall in love with her marks.

Jill had been taught that love was not a part of her live. Romance had been drilled into her as frivolous and unnecessary. Anytime that her father had seen her developing feelings for the opposite sex, she would be punished. She cringed at the memory of how many laps she'd had to run when her father caught her kissing her teenage boyfriend, Luke. Luke had been the only person who Jill had ever had feelings for; until her father found out. Luke had been banned from seeing Jill, and shortly thereafter had started to date the ever so willing Selena.

"Relationships," he had said, "are only necessary for the advancement of position, power or prestige. Love is a lie that men tell woman to get laid, and women tell men to get what they want." Jill's father had only married her mother because she had gotten pregnant. He had also figured having a "wife figure" would help him advance in his career. While Jill had not been totally convinced of her father's theory, she had never been in a real relationship since Luke. Her father had seen to it in her young formative years, and in her adult years it had been because of her job. Sure she would have the occasional flings, but she would never allow herself to get emotionally attached to one man. Many men had used her as a result, but she had also used many men herself.

Jill thought over the previous night's events. The look on Marlin's face when he'd stepped out of the shower room had been unmistakable. It had been raw attraction. Jill would take whatever advantage she could take. She wondered what Jill Paxton would do in that moment. Jill Paxton would probably try to avoid Marlin for a little while, and look embarrassed every time they encountered each other. She briefly wondered what it would be like to really be Jill Paxton, shy little farmer girl. She imagined Jill Paxton would be the kind of girl to easily fall in love. She would be the kind of girl that would wear her heart on her sleeve. That was the girl that Jill would become. She sighed and closed her eyes. Yes, becoming Jill Paxton would be much different from who she really was.


	5. Chapter 4

Jill had isolated herself for two weeks after the "locking herself out of the house" incident. Partly because she had a lot to do around the farm, and partly to maintain the appearance that she was avoiding a certain farmer. Jill had decided that two weeks was enough, and maybe tonight she would arrange a casual "run in" at the bar. She had not been back to Blue Bar since she'd first arrived. What Jill did not count on was the fact that Forget-Me-Not Valley was too small for her to stay out of sight for two weeks without someone coming to check up on her. It was Vesta who came to the farm to make sure Jill was alright.

"My dear, no one's seen you around lately, are you doing okay?" Vesta replied. Jill stared at the woman for a moment. Jill hated surprises. Even though she was usually quick to think of a response to any situation, she much preferred to be prepared how to react and how to respond.

"That's very sweet of you," Jill responded slowly, she cast her eyes to the ground. "It's just been a lot of work on the farm, and I'm just really missing my dad right now." Vesta's large arm went around JIll's shoulder to comfort her.

"That's hard, I lost my father four years ago, and I still find it difficult at times," Vesta's voice cracked with emotion. "If you ever need any help here on the farm don't hesitate to ask us. We'd be more than happy to give you a hand."

"That's so very kind of you," Jill said looking up, amazing herself that she was able to form tears in her eyes. "I am still a little embarrassed too, you know after locking myself out of my house, and having to stay at yours." She once again looked down. It was nearly impossible to imitate a blush, and looking down was the second best thing. Jill bit her bottom lip. "I'm always doing stupid things like that."

"Don't be too hard on yourself!" Vesta's voice boomed out. "Everyone makes mistakes like that once in a while. Are you free tonight, we'd love to have you over for dinner." Jill in fact had plans for the night, but that was going to be much later when everyone else was asleep. She was going to be doing a little bit of investigating on the island. She knew that the drugs if being grown, were not grown in the valley, they had to be in the mountain somewhere, or in a sub-basement hidden under a house. It was why she had wanted to investigate a little bit more in Vesta's Farm when they were gone.

"Um, I suppose I can," Jill replied to Vesta's invite. "Thank you, you are so kind."

"Fantastic, we'll see you then. Does five thirty work for you?"

'That works fine," Jill answered. Immediately her mind began to turn. Everything Jill did was calculated. She had thought about turning down the invite, but decided against it. She also needed to get Vesta to trust her. Vesta was an overly kind woman, not the kind you'd expect to be a criminal. Then again the best ones never were.

Jill also took into consideration that Celia would be there, and the last thing she'd heard was that Marlin had a thing going with Celia. Tonight would be a night of strategizing. She would first need to feel out the relationship between Celia and Marlin, then she would need to see what she could do to dismantle it. From what Jill had heard it was on the rocks anyway. This was yet another part of the job. Jill knew that other people would feel bad about breaking up a relationship, but Jill did not. Empathy was a luxury that Jill could not afford to indulge in. If she felt anything at all, she quickly buried or squashed it. It was those types of feelings that caused mistakes to be made, or people to be killed.

"Oh Jill's coming over for dinner," Vesta informed Marlin casually. Marlin whirled his head around to look at his sister who was finishing up some end of day paperwork. Vesta was meticulous when it came to her receipts and bills. Marlin had just returned from his weekly trip to Mineral Town to drop off some deliveries, and pick up more inventory from Pascal. Marlin had been doing his best to avoid the girl since she'd spent the night. He felt a little too uncomfortable about his attraction to her. To his relief, she seemed to be avoiding him too. Now he was going to have to spend the evening with her? He would have to be trying to hide his attraction all night from the probing gaze of Celia. It seemed lately that anytime any girl came around, Celia watched him carefully to see if there were any signs of interest. Just the night before she had accused of him of ogling Muffy, as if were any of her business who he looked at.

"Fantastic," Marlin muttered.

"Marlin, you had better be nice to her," Vesta warned, her tone getting lower. "Brother I don't know what it is about you and your hatred of women."

"I don't hate women," Marlin argued. "I just think that they are more trouble than they are worth most of the time."

"Marlin Arnett I swear! You were so much more pleasant before you became sick," Vesta said vehemently.

"Whatever," Marlin muttered.

It had not been by choice that he had moved to Forget-Me-Not valley. When he had gotten sick, his doctor had suggested he move to the country to get away from the all the smog and pollution of the city air. Vesta had insisted that he come and work on the farm. He begrudgingly had to admit that living here had helped. He was frustrated, though, that he was not healed. Moving to the Valley also had it's own set of challenges, the largest for Marlin had been the women. Most men would not have complained about the multiple women that seemed to form crushes on him, but Marlin was not most men. Marlin had learned his lesson where getting close to women was involved.

He had made a stupid mistake in allowing his urges to take over when he had kissed Celia a few times. After which, she had automatically assumed they were a couple. He needed to me more careful with the women of the Valley.

His sister was not helping him in that resolve by throwing the one woman in front of him that he could not get out of his mind for the past two weeks. There was more to Jill Paxton then met the eye. There was an underlying mystery, and almost a sadness about her that Marlin could not quite figure out. It seemed to be more than just grieving over her dead father. She was hiding something about her past, and it seemed to intrigue him. Marlin had seen it, even with the very few interactions they had. It also did not help that she also appeared to have a pretty toned body, underneath all those baggy clothes she would wear.

* * *

Jill arrived exactly at five thirty. It was in her nature to be punctual. Another lesson learned in the father/ daughter training. Celia had just finished setting the table, and Vesta was in the kitchen just finished up dinner. Marlin was no where in sight. She carefully counted the place settings, there were four of them, which meant that he would be joining them.

"Well you look lovely," Vesta said looking at Jill's attire. Jill had opted to wear a light green sweater dress that came down to her knees, and a pair of brown dress boots. Her hair was down around her shoulders in a flirty fashion.

"Thanks," Jill said shyly. " I decided this would be a good opportunity to get out of those old work clothes." She heard the door open, and a slight gasp from the man she knew had entered the house. When she turned around to greet Marlin, he had gained his composure. But Jill was an expert at reading people, and she could tell that by the look in her eyes, the choice of outfit she was wearing, was a good one.

"Hello," Marlin said shifting his eyes to the ground, Jill had to hide the smile she felt coming, she bit her lip instead. This man was incredibly handsome. Jill had worked with a lot of marks over the years, and Marlin was by far the most handsome one. Marlin also did not appear to be the worthless lump of human flesh that so many of her other marks had been. He did appear to be solid. Jill silently reminded herself that it could be a cover for what was really going on.

"Well it's time for dinner you two," Celia said coming up to them. Celia was eyeing Jill carefully. The possessive look she had on her pretty face was unmistakable. Celia appeared to be exactly the persona that Jill was trying to portray, innocent farm girl who wore her heart on her sleeve. She had long brown hair and large innocent looking brown eyes, and she was stunningly beautiful as well. Jill had not imagined that the women of Forget-Me-Not Valley would be so beautiful. Perhaps it was the fresh country air that made them such. Jill had always imagined that people from the country would look more like what she had seen in movies, teeth missing, ripped up clothing, and messy hair. She had not expected to see people who's beauty rivaled that of what she'd seen in the city. Jill followed the brunette to the table.

* * *

Marlin stepped outside into the cool crisp Autumn night air. Dinner had been a complete disaster. Vesta had been oblivious to the complete mess that dinner had been. It had been difficult for him to keep his eyes off Jill. A fact that had caused Celia to glare at him throughout all of dinner. Jill who had been blissfully unaware of Celia's glares, had continued to throw shy smiles in his direction, which had caused Celia's glares to intensify.

Vesta had insisted that since they had company over that he should stay home from the bar for an evening. Jill had been gone for an hour, and he needed to get out of the farmhouse. Celia had been sitting in silence scowling at him since she had left. He finally could not handle it anymore and had walked outside. He had waited until Vesta was busy, because she would have chastised him for going out too late in the cold. He was so tired of being treated like a child, just because of his illness. He was thirty two years old, he could take care of himself. He heard the door open he was not thrilled with either prospect of who it could be that was standing behind him.

"Well that was pretty inappropriate don't you think Marlin?" Celia asked. Great it's Celia. I would almost rather be dealing with Vesta at this moment, Marling thought to himself.

"What are you talking about Celia?" Marlin asked turning around to face her.

"Flirting with Jill when I was right there, it's not something boyfriends sho..."

"Celia I am not your boyfriend!" Marlin shouted out in aggravation. "Look I already told you that whatever we had is over!"

"B-but I thought we had something special," Celia said, her bottom lip was quivering.

"Celia I told you repeatedly that it didn't mean anything more than what it was, you said you were okay with that," Marlin said in frustration.

"Yeah but I thought..." Celia trailed off.

"Celia look, what happened between us was a mistake. I can see that now, I am sorry if you thought it was more than it was, but it wasn't."

"I hate you Marlin!" Celia spat out and ran back into the farmhouse. Marlin sighed in aggravation and turned away and started walking towards the mountain path; before Vesta could come out and give him a lecture.

* * *

Jill watched the little exchange from behind a large bush on Vesta's property. She had been staking out the farmhouse for the past half hour. She had been quietly looking around when the door opened, and Marlin had stepped out. She had quickly ducked behind the nearest bush. This was the second time that Marlin had almost caught her snooping around on the property. She really needed to be more careful. Jill was anxious, however, to get whatever information she could. The sooner she could find things out, the sooner she would be able to leave Forget-Me-Not. She had felt a bit of a relief to know that Marlin had already ended his fling with Celia. It made her job a little bit easier.

She saw him heading for the mountain path, she needed to follow him. She waited until there was enough distance between them, and crept out from the bushes, making her way slowly after him. She made sure to stay in the shadows of nearby trees or other structures. Jill knew how to follow someone without making a sound, but she drew her gun from it's holster just in case. It was the first time since being in the Valley that she'd had her gun with her. It felt familiar and comfortable to have her gun back at her hip. It was a long shot thinking that he would actually lead her to the drugs, but it was worth following him just in case he did.

Silently she continued to follow him up a branch off the main road. There was a dense thick forest surrounding the path, so it was easier for her to stay hidden. He seemed to be in no hurry to be getting to where he was going.

He finally stopped when he reached a lovely spring. Jill settled herself just off the path in some of the trees, making sure he was still in plain view. The spring seemed to have a silvery glow emanating from it, even though there was no moon in the sky. Silvery flowers lined the edge of it. There were lush green plants, and the grass seemed a bit greener than anywhere else in the valley, even in the dark. The entire area had a silvery glow even in the dark of night. Jill felt a strong feeling that something spiritual was surrounding her. She shrugged it off, anything spiritual had not been a part of her life either. Jill had never believed in the Harvest Goddess like her mother had. Her father had taught her that religion was for the weak.

From the light in it's spring Jill could clearly see Marlin's face. He looked almost anguished. The large man dropped to his knees and bowed his head. Is he praying? Jill thought to herself. She watched as the man sat in silence praying at the spring. Jill suddenly felt uncomfortable to be witnessing such a private scene. She looked respectfully away. Even if she did not believe herself, she felt that it was inappropriate to watch the man in this moment of speaking with his deity. Several minutes later she heard Marlin moving again. He picked up one of the silvery flowers surrounding the spring, and tossed it in. It was quickly enveloped in water. For a moment Jill thought she saw a silvery hand reach up and grab the flower, bringing it below the surface. She shook it off as being tired. Marlin continued to sit by the spring, and Jill was not going to move until he did.

Finally, twenty minutes later Marlin stirred and started to leave the spring. Jill waited until he was further down the path the emerge from behind the trees. She was not quite sure what to think about the man anymore. There were definitely more layers to him than she had originally thought. She continued to follow him back to the farmhouse. When he finally went back inside, Jill waited for twenty more minutes, snooping around the farm seeing if she could see anything suspicious, then turned to the path leading back to her house.


	6. Chapter 5

**Note: Thanks for all the reviews so far. I am glad you are enjoying the story, I am enjoying writing it. Please let me know if you are following along. Thanks to The Rune Reverend, always appreciate your reviews. This Chapter is letting you see more of Marlin's attraction, and back-story. I promise there will be some more storyline in future chapters. As it is I am trying to establish a baseline and a relationship between the two main characters before I delve too much into story line. I will be going on vacation for the next two weeks so it may be a while until I post another Chapter. But I might do some writing on the plane. Anyway hope you enjoy this Chapter!**

The rustic homeliness of the Blue Bar was something that simultaneously made Jill feel comfortable and on edge. Feeling comfortable was not something Jill was accustomed to. She remembered Bob telling her that if she was ever comfortable on a case that she was not paying enough attention to her surroundings. The Blue Bar seemed to naturally make a person feel at home. To maintain her interaction with Marlin, however, Jill needed to keep up regular patronage at the bar. Even though Vesta often invited her to dinner, Marlin seemed to talk to less at the Vesta's house than in the Bar. She started to establish herself nicely at the bar. Another perk of going to Blue Bar was seeing the blonde barmaid who was always willing to gossip. It was apparent to Jill that Muffy was lonely and was desperately looking for a friend. Jill was more than willing to fill that position; especially given Muffy's vast knowledge of intimate details of the villagers' lives. Jill learned more about the villagers than she did on all her stake outs combined, with just one conversation with the beautiful blonde. As a result Jill was very careful about the information she divulged in front of the girl.

"How's farming going?" Muffy asked Jill, pouring her the usual glass of Bourbon. Muffy leaned casually against the counter. The barmaid exuded an easy sexuality and femininity, a fact that did not escape the notice of many of the male patrons to the bar. Jill had noticed that some of the Mineral Town men would come to the bar on occasion to flirt with the beautiful blonde. She did not appear to return the affections of any one of them more than the other. She would flirt equally with all of them. Muffy would often talk about Gray the blacksmith's gorgeous eyes, or Gustafa's wonderful singing, or Cliff's handsome smile. She never would go beyond superficial observances. She would talk casually about possibly dating any one of them, but never committed to actually doing so. Jill speculated that Muffy had been deeply hurt by someone before. Jill could sense a sadness in the girl that was hidden behind all the pretty smiles and batting eyelashes.

"Farming is farming," Jill sighed. "I pretty much don't think I would survive without Vesta, she's been my savior.

"Vesta's like that," Muffy chuckled. "When I first moved here, I thought she was a bit frightening, but she's really just a sweetheart." Jill gave the girl a halfhearted smile.

"I also really miss my dad," Jill replied softly. Jill looked down at the counter.

"Oh honey, I'm sorry," Muffy soothed, she reached her hand to cover Jill's. "That must be hard for you."

"Yeah," Jill sighed.

"I'll be right back," Muffy stated. "I gotta go take of Mr. Gorgeous Eyes." Muffy sauntered over away to Mineral's town's blacksmith who had just walked up to the bar. Muffy turned her head back towards Jill and winked, which made Jill genuinely smile. Jill checked her watch. It was almost seven, which meant Marlin would be entering the bar soon.

"Good evening beautiful," a voice purred into her ear. Jill cringed. The major downfall of becoming a staple at the Blue Bar had walked up behind her. There was very little space between his body and hers.

Rock Dayton was pure sleaze. Jill had met many "Rocks" in the city. He had boyish good looks with his thick crop of golden hair, and large blue eyes. He was always dressed impeccably. Very rarely was seen doing anything useful. From what Jill had heard, Rock mooched off his parents, which was pretty pathetic for someone in their mid twenties. Somehow he would manage to charm at least one of the ladies in the Valley or Mineral Town, because he very rarely went without female companionship. Rock was exactly the type of person that Jill could not tolerate nor understand. She'd had many marks that were very similar to Rock. He was the type of man that would notice any attractive woman, but was impossibly hard to get to actually tie down. He said the right things to make a woman feel wanted in the moment, but in the next moment would be saying the same thing to another woman. Jill would have been perfectly content without his unwanted attention.

"Get lost Rock," Jill scowled.

Another fact she had picked up from being at the Brass Bar was that Marlin and Rock could not stand each other. Jill suspected it was because while Rock had the charm, Marlin had an aura of mystery that seemed to make the women in the Valley want to get closer to him. Rock was someone they hung around with for fun, but Marlin was someone they wanted to have a relationship with. Jill did not want Marlin seeing Rock cozying up to her.

"Come on babe, let's you and me have some fun tonight," Rock urged. His hands slid down her sides to rest on her hips. Jill resisted the urge to drop him on the spot. She normally would have no qualms about putting him in his place, but she refused to break out of "character" even in that moment. Instead, she opted to elbow him in the chest. He backed away for a second and then eased back up placing his arms around her shoulders. She shuddered

"Rock leave me alone," Jill warned. She was losing her patience with the trim blond man. Rock leaned in closer almost pressing his lips against her ear

"Aw baby, I'm just trying-" Rock was harshly pulled away from Jill. Jill whirled her head around to see Marlin grabbing Rock by the shirt collar.

"I believe the young lady said leave her alone," Marlin growled.

"Dude, chill out I was just trying to talk to her," Rock said. Marlin was considerably taller than Rock who stood at five foot eight. Marlin glared at blond man. He slowly loosed his grip, shoving Rock away from Jill.

"Clearly she doesn't want to talk to you." Marlin replied.

"Whatever man," Rock replied, and moved away to speak with another red haired girl named Nami.

"Thanks!" Jill breathed out. She smiled sweetly. "Can I buy you a drink to thank you?" She tilted her head down and looked up at him through her long eyelashes, to convey an innocent hesitation.

"That's not necessary," Marlin muttered.

"Marlin, the girl's just trying to say thank you," Muffy teased. She had returned in time to see the exchange between Rock and Marlin. "Why don't you just let her?"

"Um, ok I guess, thanks," Marlin stated. "I'll be right back." He turned and headed for the bathrooms.

"What the heck just happened there?" Muffy asked. "I walk away for two seconds and come back to see Marlin gripping Rock's shirt. Jill shrugged.

"I- I honestly don't know," Jill stammered, pushing her fingers through her hair. "Rock was being his usual sleazy self, and I was trying to get him to get away from me, and then next thing I knew, Marlin was pulling him off from me." Muffy chuckled.

"Well honey, I know Marlin and Rock aren't the best of friends, but I've never seen Marlin get physical with anyone. I think he may have a thing for you," Muffy leaned over the counter with her chin resting on interlocked hands looking at Jill. Jill looked shyly down at the counter.

"Oh I doubt that..." she mumbled.

"Whatever you say doll," Muffy replied laughing, as she stood back up to pour another drink for a bar patron, leaving Jill to sit with her thoughts. Jill had been shocked when Marlin had come up and pulled Rock off her. She had expected him to see the exchange and walk past rolling his eyes, as he had many other times that Rock had been hitting on her. Although this was the first time Rock had ever been so bold as to touch her. She sat thinking about what this could mean, and if Muffy's words had any truth to them.

* * *

Marlin stared at himself in the tarnished mirror of the dimly lit men's room in the Blue Bar. He was not quite sure what had just transpired. When he had walked in seeing Rock with his hands on Jill's waist, it had irked him for some reason. Jill's reaction could not have pleased him more, but Rock continued with his advances. It filled him with enough ire to drag the smaller man off from her. Marlin was not the type of person to get physically violent with anyone, but he had not been able to stop himself.

To his further consternation, Muffy had been given him that knowing smile, after she'd seen the whole little incident. Muffy was never one to keep her mouth shut, he was sure that the entire town would hear about his little incident with Rock by tomorrow evening. Now he was stuck having a drink with Jill, the one person who he had been trying to avoid. It had not helped matters that she always seemed to be over at the farm asking questions to Vesta, getting tips and tricks. Vesta seemed to feel it necessary to be constantly inviting the girl over to dinner, forcing Marlin to be extra careful as to not get another lecture from Celia.

HIs attraction to Jill was becoming harder and harder to ignore. That tiny little body of hers, and those large violet eyes that would stare up at him shyly, stirred feelings in Marlin that he had long ago buried. He had promised himself to never care about another woman the way he had cared about Kathy, the beautiful blonde vixen who had stolen his heart years before in the city; only to find out she had been using him to get her ex-boyfriend Owen to propose to her. He sighed. He had better get back to Jill before she and Muffy sent out a search party.

"There you are," Jill replied softly. "I was wondering if you were okay. Thought maybe you'd passed out or something." Marlin cursed under his breath. Vesta must have mentioned something about his illness. Jill looked worried.

"I'm fine," Marlin stated sitting down on the bar stool next to her.

"L- look if it's t-too awkward for you to um sit and have a drink with me, you don't have to," Jill said. The look in her eyes made him feel like the worst jerk in the world.

"No, look I'm sorry, I realized that I was a bit rude earlier," Marlin said mumbling. He eyed the second glass of Bourbon. "I take it that's for me?"

"Yeah," Jill answered. She gave him a brilliant smile and touched his arm lightly. "Really thanks for helping me with Rock." Marlin felt himself blushing. Marlin was not sure what it was about this girl, but she seemed to be able to make his blood flow.

"Don't mention it," Marlin said, as he lifted the glass of Bourbon and took a long drink. They both sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"Do you ever miss the city?" Jill finally asked.

"All the time," Marlin answered.

"I miss the city all the time too. I know that my father wanted this farm to prosper though, and I feel like if I were to just abandon it would just be wrong in some ways. I mean don't get me wrong I do like it here but it's really different than the city," Jill rambled. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands. "I am so sorry I am talking too much again. I do that way too much when I am nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" Marlin asked in passing.

"Well, I just get really nervous in general around men who are as handsome as you," Jill said. "Oh! I mean..." She quickly turned away from him. Marlin felt a blush rising to his cheeks. Jill thought he was handsome?

"I'm not handsome," he grumbled. Jill turned her beautiful eyes on him.

"But you are," Jill said. She sat for a moment staring at him. "I'm sorry I am making you uncomfortable."

"A little bit," Marlin muttered. "But I'm not mad or anything."

"Oh good," Jill gushed. Marlin looked back at the small girl who was staring into her drink. Inexplicably she drew out his protective instincts. Marlin sensed that this tiny girl had never had someone who wanted to take care of her before. He found himself wanting to be that person. He quickly pushed those thoughts away. Marlin was not willing to fall in love again. He could not be that person for Jill.


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey sorry it's been a while since my last update. I am back from Vacation now. I will try to update as much as possible but I am also training for a half marathon which is taking a bunch of my time now. But here's a new chapter hope you enjoy.**

* * *

The first snowfall came five days into the winter season. It gave the Valley a somewhat enchanted look. The sun sparkled on the white covered landscape creating a peaceful feeling throughout the island. Everyone felt the calming effects of the beauty around them. Everyone that is, except Jill.

She had arrived in the Vally in the beginning of Autumn, and she was no closer to closing in on the drugs than she had been when she had first arrived. Whoever was in charge was good at covering their tracks. She was also making very little headway with Marlin. As the fall season progressed both farms had more and more chores to do. Jill was hoping that as Winter settled in, there would be more time to concentrate on that aspect of her case.

She sat in front of her laptop. The soft humming of the fan was a soothing sound. It made her think of the city and life back at the office. It was ironic how writing these briefings used to be her least favorite part of the case, but now it seemed that it was her connection to the outside world. Jill was feeling particularly isolated from reality. Forget-Me-Not was unlike any other place Jill had been assigned to. This place seemed to be thrown back in time; as if the last ten years had not even elapsed. The people did not own cell phones. Jill highly doubted this island could even get cell phone reception. Most did not even own home phones.

She pinched the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and her thumb. She hated having nothing new to report. She had spent countless hours during the day working on the farm, only to spend more hours at night staking out the island. She hated knowing that the perps were always one step ahead of her. it frustrated her that she was not able to make any headway on the case.

She heard a light knock on the door. She quickly grabbed the laptop and shoved it into her lock box. After securely locking it, she walked over to answer the door. To her astonishment Marlin stood at her door with his hands in his pockets.

"Hi," Jill breathed out. She smiled sweetly at him, leaning up against her door frame. Marlin looked uncomfortable to be standing so close to her.

"Vesta wanted me to invite you over for the Starry Night Festival next week," Marlin muttered.

"Do you want me to come?" Jill asked. She leaned in a little closer and touched Marlin's forearm. Marlin tensed under her touch.

"Um- why would that matter?" he asked looking past Jill.

"Because you are my friend," Jill said sweetly. "Or at least I would like to think you are."

"Oh," Marlin replied. "Yeah sure, whatever."

"Alright, then I'll be there!" Jill beamed at him.

"It'll be next week Thursday at eight," Marlin informed. "I'll be by to pick you up."

"Do I need to bring anything?" Jill asked.

"No."

"Tell Vesta thanks for the invite," Jill said.

Marlin grunted something she could not quite understand, and walked away. Jill closed the door wondering if she had made a miscalculation by being so forward.

* * *

Marlin drove as quickly away from the farmhouse as he could. He was trying his best to keep his feelings for the girl under control, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Her featherlight touch on his arm had sent his hormones racing again. But it was more than just lust that he felt for the girl, and that was what scared him. If it was purely a physical attraction, he would be able to ignore it better. But her innocent smiles and her sweet glances were starting to melt his stubborn heart. There was also a strength that he could sense underneath her quiet and shy demeanor. He had a feeling Jill Paxton was not the meek mild girl that she always portrayed. It was a mystery that added onto Jill's allure.

He longed to know what those full, luscious lips would feel like against his. Jill was beginning to consume his thoughts even more and more. He would start feeling like he was getting some sort of grasp of control over his out of control emotions, then something would happen.

The incident at the bar was a well known and well talked about occurrence. Since then Celia had pretty much stopped talking to him altogether. Marlin was not sure if that was a blessing or a curse. Vesta had given him the same knowing look Muffy had given him when she heard about it. He was certain it was why Vesta had asked him to come and ask Jill to the Starry Night Festival, instead of coming herself. The news had even filtered into Mineral Town. Pascal had asked him about it in the last visit.

The problem with the Valley is that it was just too damn small to avoid any one person in it. Jill also seemed to integrate herself into the Valley. There were very few people that did not like Jill. Even before one got to know Jill there was something alluring about her. She was not classically beautiful, her face had too many sharp angles for that. After a second inspection, she was stunning. Since that night at the bar when Jill had called him "handsome," he had been noticing how beautiful she was.

The other men of the Valley and Mineral Town were starting to notice Jill as well. She was becoming more and more popular at the Blue Bar. Marlin knew that his jealousy was completely unwarranted, seeing as he had no claim to the girl. That did not stop the flare of his temper when he would see another man hitting on her.

If he were being honest, he would have to admit that when Vesta had the idea to invite Jill over for the Starry Night Festival, he had been a bit relieved. He did not want to think about her spending the most romantic night of the year with another man on the island.

* * *

She had barely set her computer back up to type the briefing, when she heard another knock. She glared at the offending door with the unknown person standing on the other side. In the city people did not just drop by, they usually called before coming right over. Here in the Valley it was different. She once again shoved her work equipment back into the lock box and opened the door. This time it was a man she had only seen a few times before. She had been told his name was Carter.

"Hello," Jill greeted.

The man stood before her, he had a stocky build, thick black hair and bushy eyebrows. The tiny square glasses perched precariously on the tip of his nose accentuated the squareness of his face. He looked down at Jill with a haughty indifference. Jill found him to be quite ridiculous looking with his large black rubber boots and puffy brown vest. Several gemstones and artifacts hung around his neck on loose chains.

"Good afternoon," Carter greeted. His voice was filled with arrogance. Jill had the distinct impression he thought he was superior to those who lived in the Valley. "I just wanted to let you know that I am looking for some help in the dig site. With it being winter and all, I assumed there was very little for you to do." Jill calmed the anger that rose as a result of his arrogance in assuming that she would be doing nothing. Instead she put on a brilliant smile.

"Of course that is very kind of you," Jill replied.

"I'll pay you naturally, and you will be able to keep much of what you find," he informed her. He then took his leave of her quickly. Jill closed the door firmly. If she had not been working on a case, she would have not accepted that type of behavior towards her. His condescending attitude coupled with his quick assumption of the responsibilities JIll had, were enough to make her temper flare. She could not, however, afford at this point to make any enemies in the Valley. She needed to maintain the friendly charismatic persona that she had so carefully created.

Her eyes cast over to the lock box. She did not dare get the computer out and set up again just to have another person knock on her door, instead she grabbed her coat and decided to go outside to double check on the few animals that were in the barn.

* * *

A shrill ring filled the room and a man leaned over to pick up the phone.

"Speak!" the man commanded. Very few people had this number and he had made it explicitly clear they were to call only in emergencies.

"She's been snooping around," the voice of one of his associates filled his ear.

"Has she found anything?" the man asked.

"Not yet."

"Then don't call me until she stumbles onto anything. If need be we will eliminate her, but we don't want the Agency all up in arms if we can avoid it. Until then just watch her carefully."

"But sir..."

"Do not argue with me on this. She is not a threat at this point. Do not call me again unless you have something important to report." He hung up the phone angrily. He cursed the incompetent idiots that he worked with. The arrival of the girl in the Valley had certainly stirred things up, but he was not going to allow her to bring down the operation he had worked so hard to build.


	8. Chapter 7

**Sorry it's been a while since I posted again. I am going to be trying to post more often. I had the most severe case of writer's block along with just life in general happening. Anyway Hope you enjoy this chapter. Sorry it's not as good as usual, but I am still trying to get over the block. **

The girl looking back at Jill in the mirror looked nervous. Was she actually nervous for this evening? That was impossible. But there it was, the unmistakeable fluttering in her stomach. She smoothed out a few of the wrinkles in her dress, and fluffed the curls in her hair once more. She needed to get control of her emotions and fast! If she continued to feel this way it was not going to go well for her. She needed to be sharp tonight. Tonight was not a night that she could afford to make the type of mistakes that nerves often caused. She chalked up her nerves to the importance of the Starry Night Festival to those in town and how she needed to become more integrated in Marlin's mind as a love interest. She would not allow herself to even think about the possibility that perhaps she was starting to have feelings for the man herself. That was simply unthinkable.

She heard a sharp rap on the door indicating Marlin's arrival. Jill took a deep breath and sauntered over the door preparing herself for the reaction she would get from the man who was standing on the other side. She had dressed in an emerald green dress that drooped down across her chest in a flirty fashion and just barely hugging her shoulders. The sleeves hugged her arms showing off the muscle tone, and the skirt flowed around her knees. She knew the green offset her eyes, bringing out the more vibrant purple tones. She opened the door slowly.

"Hello," she greeted cheerily. The reaction was just as she had expected. Marlin's eyes widened. He stood in perfect imitation of a statue, not moving a single muscle. His eyes wandered over her body. Jill felt a slight heat rise in her cheeks. They both stood staring at each other. Marlin had also dressed for the occasion. His midnight black suit must have been tailored especially for him. He looked even more handsome than ever. Jill had seen men in power suits before, but Marlin seemed to wear the suit with an ease and casualness that others lacked.

"Ready to go?" Marlin asked gruffly, snapping out of the daze he'd been in a few seconds earlier.

"Let me just grab my coat," Jill said, reaching for the black peacoat. Like a gentleman, he offered Jill his arm as they walked to the truck. Jill had never been treated in such a fashion before. She was accustomed to men who were inconsiderate and rude. She knew how to deal with men like Rock. A gentleman like Marlin was clearly out of her comfort zone. Jill felt a bit like a teenager going on a first date, which was just absolutely ridiculous. She watched out the window; the moonlight lit up the snow covered valley, giving it a silvery sheen. The sight was breathtaking. Jill was starting to see the benefits of actually living in a place like Forget Me Not indefinitely. She instantly chastised herself for even having a thought like that. She would not be staying in the Valley. After this case was wrapped up, she would move on. Just as she had done so many times before. The thought was slightly unpleasant to Jill. She did not want to think about leaving. She thought about how much simpler her life would be if she really were sweet innocent Jill Paxton. But she wasn't. For the sake of her job, and possibly her life, she needed to remember that.

Marlin led Jill into the small farmhouse. She was gorgeous. He had never seen her done up like she was tonight. It had put his pulse into overdrive. The woman was gorgeous. Marlin new that it wasn't just about the pretty dress and the make up. It was much more than just that. Jill looked equally stunning after a day of work at the Blue Bar. There was something irresistible about Jill. Marlin was becoming infatuated with her. And tonight she was intoxicating. He liked seeing the red flush on her cheeks when she had noticed his approval of what she was wearing.

"Good evening darling girl!" Vesta greeted. She rushed forward and embraced Jill. "Well don't you look gorgeous!"

Vesta cast a glance towards Marlin. He knew exactly what that glance had meant. Vesta had been hounding him about Jill for the past few weeks. She had been telling him that he needed to make his move as far as Jill was concerned. Marlin could no longer deny his feelings for her, but what he was actually going to do concerning those feelings was something different altogether. Marlin was not sure if he was ready for anything again. To say he did not trust women would be an understatement. There was also something about Jill that he couldn't quite pinpoint. It was as if underneath all of her sweetness she was hiding something. He couldn't shake that feeling, no matter how charming she was.

"Thank you Vesta," Jill replied. A small smile came across Jill's lovely face as she looked over towards Marlin as well.

"The Starry Night Festival is one of the most important festivals in this town," Vesta started explaining. Marlin slipped into the kitchen to regain some of his composure. Her smile had been absolutely stunning. It had been real. Sometimes Marlin felt that behind her smiles there was a sadness lurking. This smile had been genuine. It had lit up her entire face. He had only seen her smile like that a few times before, each time it took his breath away. He heard a noise behind him. Vesta and Jill had come into the kitchen.

"My goodness it smells amazing in here!" Jill exclaimed.

"Vesta tends to go all out for the Starry Night Festival," Marlin explained.

They continued to have a pleasant evening. Marlin was careful to not look at Jill too much. He was also trying to avoid Vesta's glares. He did not want to fall for the little farm girl. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to stay in the Valley and it was clear that Jill was making roots.

* * *

Jill was truly feeling happy. She had not had an evening that she enjoyed like this in a while. It also brought the sharp intense feeling of loneliness that she felt. Her life had become so empty. It was a fact that she had been able to ignore easily. The hustle and bustle of the city tended to drown out everything. She wanted to go back, but she had never quit a case before, and she was not about to do it now.

They were standing in front of Jill's small farmhouse. Marlin stood a few feet away from her he was stumbling through a goodbye. Jill found it slightly endearing that he appeared to be so nervous.

"Thank you for inviting me tonight," Jill replied softly. She reached in to give the man in front of her a hug. She felt him stiffen for a moment, then reluctantly wrap his arms around her. They both pulled away slightly catching each other's eyes. She stood breathless for a moment, waiting for what was going to happen next. He started to lean in closer, and Jill prepared herself for a kiss. She heard a noise from Takakura's house, they both jumped back.

"Your welcome," Marlin muttered. Jill stepped back. She had been too lost in the moment to be able to allow Marlin to kiss her now.

"Well, I should get inside," Jill replied. She quickly turned around and ran quickly into her house. Inside she leaned against the door. Jill needed to get a hold of her feelings and fast. She was going to be putting the mission and herself farther into danger if she didn't.


	9. Chapter 8

**Ok, so I am trying to work on my stories. I know I took a very long break. I needed to get away from the Marlin storyline a little with this chapter and decided to progress along with the investigation. Some more back story for Jill is revealed here. I am sure some of you weren't too surprised. But this is kind of where I have been thinking of going with this story for a while. Anyway I hope you enjoy. I am going to try to be posting at least once every two or three weeks. More if I get the inspiration. Don't worry there will definitely be more Jill and Marlin chapters as well. **

* * *

Jill crept through the darkness following the dark figure from a safe distance. She was getting nowhere on this case, and needed to get it solved fast. Her feelings for Marlin were going to start interfering with her investigation. She was not going to put herself into a situation where emotions ruined another case. Jill turned her attention to the figure in front of her. It gave her great concern that the figure she was following was Takakura. He was supposed to be one of the good guys. She did not like thinking that someone who was supposed to be on her side was actually working against her.

She had seen Takakura leaving his house in the middle of the night while pacing the floor of her bedroom. A good night's had eluded her since the night of the Starry Night Festival. Every time she closed her eyes she could see Marlin. She could almost feel his lips against hers. This was not the time for fantasies. Especially about a possible suspect. It was not something she was comfortable with.

This, however, was comfortable. Following leads, tracking down suspects, that she was used to. Albeit the target made her a bit uncomfortable, this was still familiar. It has surprised her when Takakura had left his house in the middle of the night. She had never really trusted Takakura from the start. He had always been less than forthcoming with any information he gave her. She had started to notice in the past few weeks some suspicious activity where he was concerned. It was starting to become painfully obvious to her that he was a possible suspect. She walked as swiftly as she could without making any noises. He was a trained professional, he could easily be able to sense he was being followed if she made any noise at all. She was not all too entirely sure he didn't sense it now.

She kept the safe distance from her as they made their way to the beach. Takakura disappeared into a cluster of canoes that were standing upright on their rack near the shore. She strained her eyes to try to see any motion. She knew at that moment her cover was blown, and he had sensed her following him. She inwardly cursed. She had never lost a target before.

Jill felt a hand cover her mouth, and another arm wrap around her small body. She struggled against the person who was holding her, fear gripped through her body.

"Be quiet, or you'll ruin it!" Takakura whispered roughly in her ear. "I'm going to take my hand off your mouth, but you need to stay quiet." He eased his grip on her and she whirled away to face him.

"What the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Jill demanded.

"Be quiet!" He urged. "Look I'll explain later." Takakura pulled her down behind the fence surrounding the beach area. Several moments passed before a dark figure illuminated by only the moonlight came trudging towards the beach. Jill could hear a boat in the distance. She felt excitement vibrate through her bones. This was the first solid lead they'd had in a while. She still wasn't sure if she trusted Takakura, and was still angry at him, but she would deal with that in a little while. At this moment, the most important part was the dark figure dressed in dark clothing. It was impossible to determine whether it was a man or a woman who was walking on the beach. She needed to get closer, but Takakura's vice grip on her arm was not going to allow that. She watched the as the mysterious person flashed a light three times. She heard the boat sounds getting farther and farther away. Takakura continued to hold her down as the person made their way away from the beach and into the darkness.

They walked back to the farm in stony silence. When they finally reached her house Jill could not longer hold back her tongue.

"What the hell is going on?" Jill demanded.

"Not here, let's go inside," Takakura insisted. Jill unlocked the door and Takakura followed her inside.

"From the information I gathered there was a pick up arranged for tonight on Forget-Me-Not Beach. I was going to see what I could find out."

"You expect me to believe that? How do I know you're not in on this too? Damn it Takakura! I'm your partner!"

"You are not my partner. Jack was my partner. You are just the person that Bob decided to replace Jack with. Look everyone knows you are Bob's golden child, I wasn't sure if I could trust you or not because of that fact," Takakura spat out.

"What the hell does Bob have to do with it?" she asked. Takakura stared at her for a moment, a look of realization came over his face.

"You really don't know do you?" Takakura asked.

"Know what?" Jill asked. Takakura opened his mouth and laughed. Jill became angry.

"Why are you laughing at me?" Jill asked.

"The director didn't tell you did he?"

"Tell me what?" Jill asked.

"We suspect Bob of being in charge of the whole thing, I was hoping that he would be at the pick up, but I didn't know if you were working for him or not. Apparently neither did the director," Takakura mused. Jill felt her blood starting to rise. She had never been so angry in her life before. She turned away from Takakura. She blinked back the tears of frustration.

"I need to speak with him," Jill whispered softly more to herself than to Takakura.

"I don't know how good of an idea that would be," Takakura advised. "Even if you are his daughter." Jill whirled around to face Takakura.

"How do you know that I am his daughter?" Jill asked. Her eyes narrowing slightly. Very few people in the agency knew about her relationship with the director.

"I know things," Takakura responded.

"Then you must know that I was pretty much raised to become an agent," Jill said with a slight challenge in her voice. "But I do not rely on my relationship with him. I've earned my way." Takakura shrugged.

"Look missy, we need to regroup and figure out our next step."

"And maybe start working as a team?" Jill asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Sorry I just think that Bob split up Jack and I to throw some confusion into the mix, and get us off his trail. You're close to Bob, if you are not working with him in this, maybe you will be the one to finally give us the break we need in this case. Whoever it is on this island that is running this operation is very good."

"How many times do I have to say I am not working with Bob! If he is the one in charge I will happily bring him down! But I just don't think that Bob is capable of..." Takakura's laugh rang out interrupting Jill's statement of Bob's innocence.

"Little girl, I think you are allowing your past relationship with Bob to color your judgement about him, he's not the good man you think he is," Takakura mused.

"How did you...?" Jill trailed off.

"Like I said, I know things." The smile disappeared from his face. "Look you should probably try to get some sleep." With that he turned and left. Jill started at the door for a while anger coursing through her. Anger towards, Takakura, Bob, her father, but mostly she was angry at herself. How had she missed these signs? Was it her attraction to Marlin that had caused her senses to become so dull? She spun on her heel towards her bedroom, more determined than ever to solve this case and get out of Forget-Me- Not.


	10. Chapter 9

**Once again sorry for the long time between updates. I think I may be slowly getting over my writers block. I have more of an idea of where I want the story to go, and a better grasp on the pacing. Even though there have been some big reveals in the past two chapters, there is still plenty more that I want to get said / done in this story. Thanks for reading always. Reviews are always appreciated!**

* * *

She awoke to a pounding in her head. She wanted to believe that the previous night had been a dream. She did not want to trust Takakura. A myriad of questions flew through her brain. Was it possible? Was Bob really a suspect? Was she really suspected of conspiring with him? Did the Director really think her capable of being involved in something like this? How had Takakura found out about her relationship with Bob, and that the Director was her father? She groaned softly. It was almost too much for even her to take in. Why would Bob put her on this case if he were really the one that was in charge of the drug ring. Perhaps he thought that she would be blinded by what had previously transpired between them. The entire situation made her uneasy. Everything seemed to be working against her at the moment. She needed to get some clarification. It was hard enough battling her own inner feelings that she was starting to form for Marlin. This was an incredibly inconvenient time for her emotions to start taking over. It was just too much for one girl to handle. Jill was grateful that it was winter, it meant today she would not have to worry about too much farm work. She took out the satellite phone that was given to her for "emergencies only." She dialed the private line to the Director. The one number she knew he would be most likely to answer himself.

"Director Timmons," a harsh voice greeted. It was familiar in its severity. It was the tone of voice he had always used while speaking with his daughter, or anyone for that matter. He was always business, she wasn't sure if there was another side of him.

"Want to explain to me what the hell is going on?" Jill asked angrily. "Why didn't you tell me about Bob? Did you really think I was involved. You honestly suspected your own daughter?" It was a rarity for Jill to lose her temper in this manner. If anyone could incite her anger, it would be her father.

"Don't be hysterical. Nothing is going to be accomplished while you are like this," he answered back sternly.

"Really? I cannot believe you kept this information from me! You had me watched? I was.."

"Jillian," he interrupted firmly. "I needed to know for sure that you were not involved. I also knew if you weren't involved that you are one of the few agents that I can trust to take Bob down. Leave your emotions out of your work. How many times have I told you that? Have you learned nothing from the situation with Agent Larkin?"

Jill bit back a gasp. It had been a deep cut using Agent Larkin as an example, and her father very well knew that. Jill's conscious was still not at ease about his death. It weighed on her heavily.

"Fine. Just tell me what you know, keep me in the damn loop," Jill replied as calmly as she could.

"It sounds like you already know everything we do. Do your Job Jillian - you'll figure out the rest." The phone clicked in her ear. She resisted the urge to hurl the phone across the room. Instead she let out an aggravated sigh. She had come to blows like this with her father before, but he had infuriated her more than usual. Using Agent Larkin's name had been cruel. It had been a mistake on her part. She should have realized sooner, back in that cold alley what his true intentions were. If she had perhaps she could have prevented his death.

_Flashback _

_Jill paced back and forth waiting for her partner in the dark. He was running fifteen minutes late. Agent Larkin's punctuality had never been an issue. He rarely was late for a meeting, especially when they were undercover. He needed to arrive and soon. Her current mark was rather possessive and she could only afford short periods of time away from him. She finally saw him turning the corner. _

_"Bout damn time Larkin," Jill muttered angrily. _

_"Sorry I was late Jillian, I wanted to get you something, it is your birthday," he responded. Jill stared at her partner. _

_"You're late because of a present?" Jill asked. "What the hell?" _

_The man standing before her looked hurt. Why did he look hurt? This was ridiculous. _

_"Jill I care about you..." Agent Larkin trailed off. Jill had crossed her arms and was tapping her foot against the ground. _

_"That was completely unnecessary, those types of sentiments have no place where we are concerned. For Goddess sake we're partners," she stated in a matter of fact tone. She was perturbed that he had made her wait in the cold over something so trivial. _

_End Flashback _

Remembering that moment was painful. It seemed so obvious now looking back with the knowledge she had. But it had not seemed even plausible to her. Her father had effectively driven out any thoughts of love from her mind. Falling in love with a coworker; no that was not even fathomable to Jill. She shook her head. No point dwelling on things she couldn't change. It was time to start focusing on things she could She needed to solve this case. She needed to continue forward with her efforts with Marlin. Most importantly she needed to get out of this Goddess forsaken valley and back to the city.

* * *

Marlin took another long sip from his bourbon. It had been a hell of a day, and he was ready for a break. Vesta was never a believer in an off season. Some days it felt as if they worked harder in the winter than they did any other season. It was more than just the rough work. Marlin could handle that. He was feeling restless. He was becoming bored with the routine. He wanted something more. That something more was currently sitting on a bar stool rebuffing, once again, the advances of Rock. It was different tonight. She seemed lest enthusiastic about denying him. The blond man seemed to take that as encouragement to try harder. Marlin suppressed the urge to walk over and punch the smirk of his face. The previous time he and Rock had gotten into an altercation had caused quite a stir. He was not about to give the people in town more fuel to that fire. It had been talked about for months how Marlin and Rock had gotten in a "fight" over Jill. Even so it angered him to see them together. He cursed at himself for even being angry. What did he care if Rock flirted with her. Even as he was cursing himself, he knew that thought was a lie - he did care. It had been a long time since Marlin had wanted a woman the way he wanted Jill. She suddenly smiled at something Rock said. Was his constant advances finally getting through to her? The thought only infuriated him more.

"I'm sure she'd enjoy your company over that sleazeball's handsome," Muffy purred. She leaned seductively against the table.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Marlin answered gruffly. Muffy let out a throaty laugh.

"If you were looking for subtlety, you shouldn't have been staring at her since she walked into the bar, honey." She smiled knowingly at Marlin who scowled and quickly averted his eyes from Jill.

"There something you want?" He asked.

"That's my question handsome," Muffy cooed. She was most certainly enjoying teasing him.

"No," Marlin answered shortly, hoping the barmaid would leave him alone. He heard her chuckle as she sauntered away. His eyes were drawn back to Jill who was still being hit on by Rock.

Marlin sat in the bar long past his usual time. Jill had left hours ago. He was on his third drink, and starting to feel it a little. He had watched Rock and Jill all evening. Jill had actually seemed somewhat responsive, much to his displeasure. Muffy slid into the booth next to him. He let out a low growl. Once again it was greeted with a chuckle.

"Listen honey, I like you. Not in the lovey dovey way, but as a person. That's why I'm going to tell you this. If you want her, go after her. Especially before Rock takes her out on a date," Muffy advised. Marlin whirled his head towards the barmaid.

"What?" he asked.

"She finally agreed to let Rock take her out. Well I believe her exact words were, 'if I say yes will you leave me alone afterwards?' He's a slick bastard." Her voice was soft with disgust. She slipped out of the booth, leaving Marlin to contemplate what he had just been told. Marlin stared at his half empty glass of bourbon, his frustration rising.

* * *

Jill awoke to a loud pounding on the door. _What the hell?_ She thought. She threw a robe over the nightgown she was wearing and made her way over the obnoxious noise.

"Marlin?" What in the..." Her words were cut off by a deep kiss. It was rough and she could taste the alcohol on his tongue. His hands were buried into her hair. It seemed more like a punishment than a kiss. Jill grasped his arms for support. Her heart beat was loudly beating in her ears. It was possessive, demanding, and exhilarating. The passion between them was rising as the kiss was deepened. She started kissing him back, which seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he was in. He quickly pulled away, and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Marlin what was..."

"A mistake. I shouldn't have done that."

"A mistake?" Jill asked. She was surprised that it didn't' take much acting to sound hurt. There was a small sting to his words. She chastised herself for allowing his words to effect her in such a manner. He muttered curses under his breath.

"I'm messing this up, I'm sorry Jill."

Jill slowly took a step forward eliminating the space between them.

"Don't be," she whispered softly, trying her best to convey a slight shyness. She leaned forward to kiss him. It was gentle kiss this time. His hands moved from his pockets to her face, gently cupping her cheeks. She leaned further into the kiss. It had been quite some time since she had actually kissed a man that she was attracted to. She pulled lightly on his jacket to pull him into the house, but he stood rooted in her doorway.

"I shouldn't come in," Marlin started.

"Why not?" Jill asked looking at the ground.

"Look I don't want to do something stupid. Something that you would regret."

"And if I wouldn't regret it?" Jill asked looking up at him.

"Good night Jill," Marlin said softly. He gave her another soft gentle kiss, and turned to walk away. Jill leaned against door bringing her finger to her lips and smiled. This was definitely progress.


	11. Chapter 10

**As promised I am trying to keep up with uploading chapters. WARNING there is violence in this chapter. And for those of you who are fans of Rock, you may not want to read this. Since he is not painted in a very good light. This chapter may seem a bit out of place, but it is working for the build up of Marlin and Jill's relationship. Anyway as always thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing it.  
**

* * *

Spring with all of it's beauty was slowly starting to make it's way to Forget Me Not. Snow was melting causing large puddles of mud to form around town. People were starting to feel and be more cheery. There was a general relaxed air around the valley. One resident, however, was not feeling the relaxation that the rest of the village seemed to exert. Jill was quite upset with herself that another season had gone by with such little progress on her case. She also found herself wanting to be around Marlin for reasons other than to progress with the case. It had been only a few days since the surprise visit from Marlin with the passionate kiss. She could still feel his lips against hers when she closed her eyes.

To her further consternation she had agreed to go on a date with the town's playboy. It had been a moment of weakness that had caused her to agree to such an idiotic thing. She once again chastised herself for allowing the news of her father's suspicions of her and Bob to throw her off balance.

"Always expect the unexpected. Never let anything shake you Jillian," her father had once advised. He would have been disappointed to know that Jill had allowed those revelations to affect her. Try as she might to ignore the emotional side of her, it was still there buried underneath all the cynicism and criticisms she'd received from her father.

Perhaps he had been right to put her on this assignment. Maybe she was not ready to go back to the hard cases after the incident with Larkin. Did she even want to be an agent at all anymore? Jill froze and stared at herself in the mirror. She had never questioned becoming an agent. She had never even considered whether or not it was something that she wanted. It had always been an assumption that FIA would be the career path that Jill would take. Did she want to be an agent? She studied herself in the mirror. It felt as if for the first time in a long time she was truly seeing herself. She was looking at Jill Barre - correction Jill Timmons. What did she want? What did the girl staring back at her really want with her life? Was this really enough for Jill? She looked away from the mirror. She could not entertain those thoughts right now, not in the middle of a case.

There was a light knock on her door. Jill took a deep breath and walked over to answer the door. She was greeted with a smooth easy smile.

"Are you ready for the night of your life?" Rock asked leaning casually against the door frame. Jill resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was sure this evening would be full of moments where she would be resisting that urge. She grabbed her jacket and followed Rock out the door.

"So what is it exactly that we are going to be doing?" Jill asked.

"Don't you worry sweetheart, I'll make sure you enjoy yourself," Rock replied with easy confidence. She noticed that like most of the losers she had encountered on her job, he had no car. She followed him to the Inn where he lived. This was beginning to look a lot less promising. She was not quite sure what he was going for, but he was certainly in for a surprise if he thought anything more than just a casual date was going to happen.

The Inn was dark, no one seemed to be home. It was another bad sign. Jill had the fleeting idea to leave instantly.

"Where are your parents?" She asked.

"Out of town for the weekend. We've got the place to ourselves tonight." Rock smiled and placed his hand on the small of Jill's back. She suppressed a shudder. Surprisingly he led her into the kitchen instead of his bedroom. A small table with two candles lit was placed in the center of the kitchen, and an almost heavenly aroma filled the room. Jill's eyes widened in surprised. She was starting to see why Rock always had the company of the women on the island. Players always knew how to be romantic when they needed to be though. He guided her gently to one of the chairs.

"Wait right here my lovely maiden, I shall take care of the rest tonight."

Dinner was surprisingly pleasant. The conversation was not too strained. She had not expected for dinner to be as pleasant as it was. Rock was certainly showing a different side. He had dropped his playboy persona, and had actually had a real conversation with Jill. That was what surprised her the most. He talked of growing up on Flower Bud Island; his dreams of someday making it into the city. He wasn't sure what he wanted to be yet - perhaps a business man. Jill was amused by his casual air to everything. Rock Dayton would probably never make it off this island. He had too little ambition to make anything of himself on his own.

"I've got a little surprise," Rock said casually after dinner. He pulled out a joint from his pocket. Jill's eyes widened. It didn't really surprise her that someone like Rock would enjoy an occasional recreational drug, but she had not expected him to have one tonight.

"Where did you get that?" Jill asked.

"I have my ways," Rock replied. "So what do you say?"

"Rock where did you buy that?" Jill asked again.

"Why do you care?" Rock asked narrowing his eyes. Jill knew better than to push him further.

"Nothing. I don't. I am just not into that sort of thing," Jill answered.

"No sweat." Rock slid the joint back into his pocket. Then suddenly Rock was pushing her against the wall. His lips came down on hers. Jill felt a revulsion go through her body. It was nothing like the kiss Marlin had given her. It was sloppy, unrefined, and too eager. Rock started pawing at her chest making grunting noises.

"What are you..." Her words were cut off by another assault of kisses. She pushed against his chest to try to push him away. It only seemed to fuel his desire even more. His hands pushed up the fabric of her shirt.

"Oh baby you are so hot!" Rock murmured. Jill struggled against him. She pulled her face away from his.

"Stop!"

Rock ignored her and instead grabbed a handful of her hair with one hand to stop her from moving her head. His lips crushed against hers painfully. She could taste the coppery taste of blood in her mouth. His other hand gripped her arm tightly she felt a sharp pain in her arm. She struggled against him more pulling her mouth away.

"Rock, please stop!" She begged.

"Shut up!" Rock shouted. He brought his hand up and it connected hard with the side of her face. Her cheek stung. Jill could no longer hold back. Instincts kicked in and she swiftly brought her knee up to his groin impacting as hard as she could, as he bent over she twisted his left arm behind his back in a manner she knew would be painful.

"I believe I told you to stop," Jill replied angrily. Rock tried to struggle against her grip, but yelped as she twisted his arm even further.

"Bitch!" He spat out. Jill gave him a quick shove and he landed on the floor of the kitchen. He scrambled to his knees holding his left arm in his right hand. Jill looked at Rock disgusted. He started towards her again, grabbing for her legs. Jill quickly dodged his grasp and brought her knee to his forehead. This man was no match for her. He doubled over in pain grabbing his head. She took that moment to grab her coat and escape.

* * *

Marlin watched as Jill ran from the Inn. He had been on his way to the bar, cursing knowing that tonight was the night Jill was going on a date with Rock. Jill nearly collided into him. She let out a scream, but then looked up to see Marlin. Jill's tiny arms went around Marlin's neck. Marlin could easily see what had transpired. Jill's messy hair, and her look of panic.

"He tried to..." Jill started. He felt her shudder against him. Marlin's suspicions were further confirmed. Marlin untangled his arms away from Jill.

"Jill what happened?" Marlin asked. Jill wrapped her arms around her chest.

"He started kissing me and I told him to stop. Then he slapped me and..." Jill stopped. Rock had come out of the Inn looking angrier than ever. Hatred filled his eyes as he looked at Jill. He didn't even seem to notice Marlin standing next to her. All he saw was Jill.

"Stupid bitch!" Rock screamed again, his hands came forwards towards Jill. This time Marlin stopped him. He slammed Rock's small body against the wall of the Inn.

"You will leave her alone," Marlin said with dangerous calm.

"Yeah or what?" Rock spat out. Marlin in that moment lost what little control he had over his anger. He swung his arm and his fist connected with Rock's face. Rock dropped to the ground again.

"Leave her alone," Marlin repeated. His hand throbbed, it had been a while since Marlin had punched someone. Marlin turned to Jill who stood wide eyed with her hands over her mouth. Rock slowly got up and turned to go into the Inn.

"You don't know who you're messing with," Marlin heard him mutter. The small man retreated back into the safety of the Inn.

"Come on," Marlin said softly to Jill, putting his arm around her slim shoulders. "Let's get you home."


	12. Chapter 11

**So this was kind of a spur of the moment decision for me to turn the story this way. That happens sometimes. It was time for Jill and Marlin to finally give into their feelings for even just a moment. But don't worry this is Jill we are talking about here. There will definitely be more turmoil up ahead. Anyway I hope you enjoy this. This was a fun chapter to write, and the next chapter is in the works. There are more surprises ahead. Thanks for reading!  
**

Jill slumped against Marlin's shoulder. Even though she had been able to stop Rock, she felt violated. He had caught her completely unaware. She had assumed his relaxed conversation at dinner had meant something different. She shuttered thinking about his lips against hers. How had she allowed herself to be put into that type of position?

"Do you think we should report this to Harris in Mineral Town?" Marlin asked. Jill shook her head. She didn't want any local cops investigating anything having to do with her.

"I just want this to go away."

"He might come back after you if you don't" Marlin advised. Jill looked up at Marlin, concern was plastered clearly on his face.

"Maybe you are right." Jill replied. As hesitant as she was to get involved with local law enforcement, she hated to think what would happen if Rock thought he could get away with this type of behavior. The other women on Flower Bud island did not have the same type of training that Jill did.

"Come on I'll drive you over to Mineral Town."

Jill silently detached herself from the feelings going through her, as Harris took a report from her. Her face and arms were starting to form bruises. Harris took some photographs of Jill's injuries. Harris' anger was obvious.

"Always knew that boy was trouble," Harris muttered under his breath. Harris continued to ask Jill the standard questions. Jill answered as any good victim should. She hated being a victim. It angered and frustrated her. Jill was not the type of girl that was anyone's victim. Marlin's arm was firmly around her shoulders as she was answering each question. Much to her further consternation, it was comforting. She had been shaken by the events of the evening. Marlin was a calming force.

As Harris was finishing up his report, a loud bang shook the small building and the lights flickered. Jill's hand instinctively went where her weapon would have been. She relaxed as she realized it was just a storm. The rain beat down a rhythm against the roof of the small police station.

"Early spring storm," Harris remarked. "Well I'm all done with the questions. I'm afraid with this storm I'm not going to be able to make it out to Forget - Me - Not tonight, but I will make sure I do so in the morning. You two might want to stay in town for the evening. The mountain pass is dangerous when the weather's like this."

Mineral Town's inn was much larger than Forget Me Not's inn. It boasted modern decorations, and large tables for dining. While it was not anything compared to the fancy five star hotels in the city, it was definitely closer to what Jill was used to than anything in the Valley. A cheery girl with bright orange hair pulled into a high ponytail greeted them.

"Welcome to Raven Inn, I'm Ann." Her smile was genuine, and Jill felt herself smiling back at the friendly host. "Marlin! Long time no see buddy!"

"Hey Ann. We need two rooms," Marlin stated.

"Sorry no can do, we only have one room available. That farmer that moved in a few years ago, Claire, she's gettin' married to the Doc this weekend. All her family's in town for the event. The room does have two beds though, is that okay?" Ann asked apologetically.

"Yeah it's fine," Marlin muttered. Jill hid a smile and looked back at Ann. She had a knowing grin on her face as she handed over the keys to the room.

* * *

Marlin tried not to think of the implications of the shower running in the other room. Jill had been through too much this evening. The last thing she needed was for his lust to go out of control again. It was more than just lust. When he had seen her running away from Rock, he had felt something he had not felt in a long time. He cared about Jill. It was more than mere physical attraction. The shower turned off, and he could hear her moving around in the bathroom. She emerged several minutes later, her damp hair clung to her face and her neck. She sat down next to him. He shifted so there was room on the small bed. He could recognize when a woman needed to be comforted. He reached out for Jill and wrapped his arms around her. She settled her head against his shoulder and sighed.

He sat with her like this for a while. Neither one of them saying anything. This was something that he could get used to. He hadn't wanted the companionship of a woman in a long time, but being here with Jill, he felt that old familiar longing. No, it was no longer about mere lust. He was starting to develop deeper feelings for this small girl. Her breathing slowly became more even. She was falling asleep. Marlin settled in to get more comfortable, no sense waking her now. She needed to get some rest. Marlin found himself drifting asleep with Jill in his arms.

***  
_Rain was pouring down, Jill found herself standing in the middle of the Mineral Town. Not even the street lights were on. Lightning flashed as she saw Rock's face jeering at her. He stood a few feet from her, a gun in his hands. She watched him as he kicked the figure that was slumped over on the ground. She felt helpless to stop what was going on. She went to move forward, but her feet felt as if they were glued to the pavement. _

_"This is what happens when you cross me little girl," Rock sneered. He pulled the figure that had been laying on the ground to his feet. To Jill's horror she saw the face of her partner Larkin. He stared back at her with despair and hurt in his eyes. _

_"No!" She shouted. Larkin was in pain. Her partner needed her, and yet she couldn't move from the spot that she was standing. Some invisible force held her there. _

_"Jill please run..." He managed to get out "I love..." A loud bang, and Larkin crumpled to the ground._  
***

"No!" Jill screamed instantly after the thunder boomed and rattled against the windows of the small room. Marlin awoke finding the small girl in his arms trembling. She turned her face into his chest and started sobbing. Her body shook as the sobs overwhelmed her. Marlin tighter to the girl in his arms.

"It's alright," he heard himself reassure her. "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." Jill clung to Marlin for comfort. He stroked her hair gently, trying to calm her as she lost herself in the deep emotions that were taking over .

Jill eased herself out of Marlin's arms. He was still sound asleep. She tiptoed slowly to the bathroom. Rubbing her hands over her face she slowly tried to recall the events of the evening before. The dream had shaken her. Embarrassment rushed through her as she recalled waking up in the middle of the night. Had she actually cried? Jill didn't cry. It was a luxury that she could not afford in her line of work. She felt the residual feelings from the night before creep into her. Larkin's death. Rock's face. The dream, it had felt so real.

"Damn," Jill muttered. "Damn him." She was angry. Rock had brought back those old emotions from the last time she had felt out of control. Jill splashed some water on her face. She could have almost been able to handle the fact that she had been reduced to tears if she had been alone. But she hadn't been. Marlin had witnessed her moment of weakness.

"Never show anyone your weaknesses, they will always use them against you," she heard her father say in her head.

"Shut up," she said to no one.

Ann's smiling face greeted them again at the front desk of the inn. Jill was struggling to regain control of her out of control emotions. It had never been this difficult before. Ann's smile seemed to stir something inside of Jill. This girl was so genuine. Jill felt an aching in her chest. A part of her longed for the innocence that Ann clearly had.

"If you are planning on going to Forget Me Not, you can forget that idea. The bridge was damaged due to the storm, Gotz is working on it, but it won't be done till Monday. With the weddin' and all. Looks like you guys are stuck here for a couple more nights," Ann replied cheerily.

Jill sighed. She just wanted to get back to the farm. She needed some time alone to be able to regroup, and recharge. It was too damn hard with Marlin around. He only brought the emotions further to the surface. Right now she needed to bury them.

The lively sounds of the reception echoed into the small room. Jill sat with Marlin watching the television. She wondered what it would be like to be the girl she had glimpsed in the wedding dress. Her blonde hair was floating around her face like a halo, she looked innocent and blissfully happy. Moments like that didn't exist in Jill's life. For a brief moment Jill felt jealous of the little blonde farmer. The blushing bride downstairs would probably never have to watch someone die a brutal death in front of her. She probably didn't have the nightmares that haunted Jill. Jill sighed. Would she have been that happy had life been different?

"Are you alright?" Marlin asked. Jill frowned. Had her displeasure been that obvious?

"Just thinking..." Jill answered back. She looked up at Marlin. He really was a handsome man. The look of concern on his face was endearing. She lifted her lips up to his, and allowed herself to get lost in the feelings. It had been too long since she had enjoyed kissing a man. Marlin's strong hands tangled themselves into her hair. A small voice inside of her head told her this was a bad idea. She ignored it. Tonight she didn't care. This was a moment for Jill. She slid her hand to his neck and pulled him even closer to her. There was little resistance. It appeared Marlin wanted this as much as she did. She heard Marlin softly moaning. It was all she needed. Every last ounce of Jill's hesitation left as she slowly swung her leg over his. Tonight she wasn't going to be Agent Jill Barre-Timmons, tonight she was just going to be Jill; a woman with a man. With Marlin.

* * *

The ring of the phone filled the otherwise silent room. Bob glared angrily at the phone.

"This had better be important," he growled.

"He's out of control!" another voice shouted into the phone. "Rock is out of control! He assaulted the girl! He's going to get arrested. He's not going to keep his mouth shut if he does!"

"Calm down, I'll take care it." He disconnected the phone call. He really was working with incompetent idiots. Bob hated when people became liabilities. He quickly punched in some numbers on the dial pad of his phone.

"Yes," a voice answered.

"There's a problem that I need you to take care of for me," Bob stated.


	13. Chapter 12

**So this is a shorter Chapter. But I felt it was time to bring in Jill's infamous father. I am interested in what you think of him, and if you'd like to see him more in the story. I have some ideas of what I can do to add him to the story. But I don't want him to be too much in the story. This is a chapter that is starting to turn around Jill's feelings towards her father and the agency. Anyways hope you enjoy. As always thanks for reading :)  
**

Sirens blazed through Mineral Town waking Jill from a dreamless slumber. She shifted in the bed. Marlin's body was plastered against hers. She stretched slightly feeling a familiar ache between her legs. A small smile crossed her lips. The weekend had been quite enjoyable. It had been a weekend away from everything. For one weekend she did not worry about the case or anything else surrounding it. She had not slept with Marlin for the sake of the case. She had done it because she had wanted to. It had felt good to do something of her own accord. She had done something because she had wanted to. Jill felt the familiar longing, she didn't want this weekend to end. She felt herself wishing that she and Marlin could stay in the small room forever. But life was calling her to come back, especially with sounds of the sirens going through Mineral Town.

"Good morning," Marlin greeted. A lazy smile graced his face.

"Good morning to you as well," Jill replied. Marlin kissed the back of her neck, causing chills to go down her spine. She turned towards Marlin. She could postpone going back to reality for just a little while longer.

"Good morning you two," Ann greeted cheerily. "The bridge is all fixed. You should be able to get back into Forget Me Not. Just in time too... Something's going on in the Valley. I'm not sure what it is, but Harris just went flying by with his sirens."

Jill tensed wondering what could possibly have caused such a commotion. Whatever it was she needed to get back to Forget Me Not to find out what was happening. Reality came crashing back in full swing. It had been nice while it lasted, but Jill was not the woman that had spent the weekend with Marlin. No matter how much she wished it were so. She was an agent with FIA, and she had a job to do.

* * *

The town of Forget Me Not was in a flurry of panic. Crime was rare on Flower Bud Island. Murder just didn't happen. Poor Ruby Dayton had come home from a weekend away with her husband, to find her only son in his bedroom dead. He had been murdered. Rumors were flying as to why he had been murdered. Rock had always had a shady side, but never did anyone in the valley ever think that anyone would hate him enough to murder him. Whispers and theories were being thrown around by everyone. Marlin unfortunately became the center of most of the gossip. There was no love loss between Marlin and Rock. He was grateful for his solid alibi for the time of the murder. Marlin was just as confused as anyone as to why Rock was murdered. It seemed about right for Marlin's life. It had been one of the best weekends of his life, followed by one of the worst mornings of his life.

"Are you Marlin Jefferson?" a man in a dark suit asked.

"That would be me," Marlin responded. He had already been questioned once by Harris this morning. Now he had to speak with one of the feds that Harris had called in. Not that he blamed Harris in anyway. A murder was a bit out of Harris' league. He had already been interrogated by one of the feds, and now another had showed up to the farm to talk to him again.

"My name is Agent Timmons," the man greeted. "I have a few questions for you about your whereabouts this weekend."

"I was in Mineral Town, at the Raven Inn for most of the weekend." Marlin responded. "Just returned this morning. I've already gone through this with one of your other agents." Marlin had nothing to hide, this man could ask him whatever questions he wanted. But it was irritating that he was being asked the same thing multiple times by different people.

"Anyone that can verify that?" Agent Timmons asked him.

"Jill Paxton," Marlin answered. "I was with her the entire weekend. She's another farmer here in the valley." Marlin watched as the agent continued staring at him.

"What exactly were you doing in Mineral Town?" Agent Timmons asked.

"Filing a police report against Rock," Marlin informed. The agent glanced at Marlin with suspicion.

"That took all weekend?"

"We got stuck because of the storm, took the bridge out," Marlin answered.

"What exactly did you do?" Agent Timmons asked.

"Do you need the details of the entire weekend?" Marlin asked. "I was in a hotel room with a woman, I think you can read between the lines there Agent Timmons." Most people in the valley would have cowered at the feet of the Feds, but Marlin was not that type of man. This was pointless it was the third time answering these questions.

"Alright, well we need to verify that information. Until then don't be leaving this town," Agent Timmons ordered. "We may still have some questions for you."

"Where am I going to go?" Marlin muttered.

"What was that?" Agent Timmons asked.

"Nothing. May I go now?"

"Just be available for more questions if we need to," Agent Timmons responded. Marlin walked out of the small farmhouse, and Agent Timmons followed suit leaving the farm house to join the rest of his crew.

"Marlin just what is going on?" Vesta asked. "Why do they suspect you? I keep hearing these things Marlin, please tell me what is going on? And just where the hell have you been all weekend?" Vesta was a mess. Not that Marlin blamed her. He barely knew what to think himself.

"Calm down Vesta, I'll tell you everything."

* * *

Jill was in her farmhouse being briefed by an Agent Starke about the case. The murder of Rock Dayton made him a likely suspect in the drug ring. This was getting more involved than Jill liked to think about. Agent Starke was a stocky man in his mid forties, who barely ever smiled. Jill had seen him before, even encountered him on a few of his cases. Starke was not the kind of man that wanted to have any excess conversation. But Jill wanted answers, and this was the only person she could see getting any results from. She was firing questions at him faster than he could answer.

"So who exactly is in charge of this operation?" Jill asked.

"That would be me," a voice behind her stated. She whirled her head around.

"Director Timmons," Agent Starke greeted.

"Can you give us a minute please Agent Starke." Agent Starke looked relieved to no longer have to answer anymore of Jill's questions.

"What is going on?" Jill asked when Agent Starke was gone. "Why are you here? Aren't there more important things for you to be doing?"

"I wanted to see for myself what kind of mess you've gotten yourself into Jillian," her father responded. Jill willed herself to stay calm and keep a blank face. Most fathers would have been worried about their daughter. But her father was worried about what she had done to mess up the case and caused someone to get murdered.

"I don't know what happened, or why," Jill replied flatly.

"Maybe if you were doing your job instead of spending weekend getaways with that farmer you'd know more," her father stated.

"He's my mark," Jill replied. Her anger was starting to rise. She knew that getting angry would accomplish nothing. Her father would simply state that she was being too emotional. She inwardly suppressed the urge to scream.

"This is bad Jillian, I hope you realize that. I can only hope that the reason that young man was killed is because you are actually doing something good."

"Where's Bob?" Jill asked trying to get her bearings.

"He's back in the city. Fuming about why he's not in charge of this case. I advised him that the murder was not going to be his. He's in charge of the Undercover Unit. As of right now he's our prime suspect, but he also seems to have a pretty airtight alibi," her father informed. "You report to me on this now Jillian. I am pulling Bob from this case. You are to stay undercover, we'll also have regular agents here investigating the murder."

"So are you going to be staying here then?" Jill asked hoping that was not the case.

"No, I'm heading back to the city," he stated. "Jillian, please remember this is not some vacation for you and lover boy, this is a case." Jill glared at her father as he walked out of the farmhouse. She could not remember a moment when she had hated him more.


	14. Chapter 13

**Hello. Once again short chapter, and so much fluff I am not sure I know how to pull myself out of it. Anyway I hope you enjoy this. I really wanted to get into the struggles that Jill is having with her emotional side. And really wanted to delve into more of what Marlin was feeling. I am trying to transition out of the big murder scene, into"normal" life for Forget-Me-Not again. More action to come in future chapters. Anyway as always let me know what you think.  
**

As angry as Jill was at her father's comment about her and Marlin, she could not deny that she had allowed her feelings to creep in during the weekend stay in Mineral Town. She needed to be more careful. She was starting to develop feelings for her mark, it was something that Jill Barre-Timmons simply did not do. Jill needed to get her footing again. The unexpected trip to Mineral Town had brought down Jill's defenses. Perhaps Marlin was in fact behind all of this. Why was she so certain that he was not involved? Maybe he had planned on having a solid alibi for this weekend. Perhaps she had just been used by him. She hated to admit how much that actually hurt. She had lost focus of her goal, if only temporarily. She was angry with herself for allowing the idyllic setting of Forget-Me-Not to lull her into a false sense of belonging. She did not belong here. She'd had her moment of weakness in Mineral Town, but she would turn it around to her advantage. She now had Marlin exactly where she wanted him. He was as firmly in her "grasp" as he was ever going to be. Jill ignored the nagging little voice inside her head that warned her by hurting Marlin, she would only hurt herself. She didn't care who she hurt. Collateral damage had always been a part of her job. But was she so sure that was the case with Marlin? Her job had been her livelihood for so long. Was it enough? She was starting to have doubts about the one thing in her life that remained constant. This disturbed Jill more than she wanted to admit. But why did Marlin's feelings matter to her? Feelings never mattered on a case.

Jill sighed heavily. this was usually the part the Jill loved. The more complicated the case became, the more excited she would get. They were like puzzles that she needed to help solve. She enjoyed figuring out where each piece of the puzzle fit. At this moment, however, she was just tired. Tired of trying to figure out this mess that existed on Flower Bud Island. It was more than the case, she knew that. It was her life. Jill had become frustrated with where her life had been going. It had been because of that naive little blonde farmer and her happy smile. Jill had never smiled a smile like the one she'd seen on Claire's face her entire life. Why was she so jealous of a simple farmer? It did not make any sense to her.

Then there was the murder. Rock's murder indicated that the person in charge of this whole operation was far more dangerous than they had originally anticipated. If it was in fact Bob that was the man behind the operation, he had fooled everyone for a long time. Jill wondered why she had not been able to sense something off about Bob. She had always been good at determining whether or not people were trustworthy. Perhaps she really was slipping. It all made her head hurt. Rock did not deserve to die, no matter how much of a sleeze he had been.

There were whispers everywhere. Jill could not go into town without people whispering a she walked by. People had heard about her encounter with Rock. Suspicions were high, even with the solid alibi she had Marlin both had. The only person who treated her with any sense of normality was Muffy. In Jill's mind an unlikely ally, but one that Jill found herself welcoming more and more.

Ruby Dalton had become inconsolable. Jill would see her around walking in a zombie-like state. She had seen this before with family members of the victims. Especially those who had discovered the body. Jill herself had been privy to the crime scene photos. From what she had seen it had been a fairly "clean" scene, if there was such a think. But the shock of a normal civilian finding her son dead must have been horrible. People who watched too much TV often thought that crime scenes held some sort of "glamor," but in actuality the gruesomeness of some crime scenes shock often even seasoned agents. Seeing a real body that had been murdered was quite different. While Rock had certainly never been someone Jill liked, Ruby did not deserve what had happened to her. Ruby had always been cheerful and friendly, if not someone ignorant. It was all gone now. What was left was a shell of what used to be. Looking into Ruby's eyes now, one would just see nothingness glossed over with exhaustion.

Jill trudged slowly by the Inn thinking about poor Ruby's loss. She had heard that Ruby wasn't sleeping at night, and when she did finally sleep she would wake up screaming. Her husband Tim was spending more and more time at the bar, drinking away his sorrows. Jill was meeting Marlin tonight for a drink. Ever since Rock's death, Marlin didn't go to the bar quite as often. They would chose a few nights a week to meet up. It was apparent to everyone that they were now a couple. Jill had received more than a few nasty looks from Celia, but she did not pay too much attention to the small brunette. There were far more important things on Jill's mind than a little girl's jealousy.

* * *

Marlin sat in the corner booth waiting on Jill to come to the bar. Ever since their weekend stay in Mineral Town things had become a bit more serious. They had not really discussed what was happening between them, but he was falling for the girl. Poor Jill had been different ever since Rock's murder. Everyone in town had been. Suspicions flew. Many people had whispers about Nami, who had only been in Forget-Me-Not for a few years. She was a drifter.

"Can we really trust her?" Griffin had asked him earlier that evening. "We know nothin' bout her. If ya hadn't been in Mineral Town with Jill I woulda thought it was her. But what do we really know about Nami?" Gustafa was another person that people would whisper about. Gustufa was a hippie. He had come to the island looking for his paradise, and he had supposedly found it. Everyone had become suspicious of everyone. No body trusted each other anymore. There were agents from FIA all over the island. Most of them stayed in Mineral town, but a few were staying in Forget-Me-Not. The agent who had interrogated him had abruptly left after the first day. Marlin couldn't put his finger on it, but there had been something familiar about that agent. He had the oddest feeling that they had met before, even though Marlin knew that was not the case. Perhaps it was just that the man had one of those faces.

"Hello sexy," Marlin heard a voice say. Jill slid into the booth next to him. He felt a smile come to his face. She was beautiful. She was his relief from all the things that were happening as of late. He clung to her beauty as if it were a life raft and he were drowning. He wrapped his arm around his girl. He liked that thought. Jill was his girl. "What's on that mind of yours?"  
"Just thinking about... everything," Marlin answered. He bit back a smile. Jill knew him more than he knew himself at times.

"Yeah," Jill replied back. She looked tired at that moment. He wondered if she was getting sleep. He knew that this whole ordeal must be wearing on her too. She had been the last person to see interact with Rock. That couldn't have been easy for her. Jill snuggled into his shoulder and rested her head on his. This was what he had been waiting for. Marlin had finally found what he had been missing his whole life. This girl made him feel like he was finally home.


	15. Chapter 14

**A short chapter, but one I felt was needed. It was time to bring some action back into the story. Once again the story is not over. its taking on a different route than I originally thought. As always please let me know what you think. **

A smile, a touch, a soft kiss, these were things that had been missing in Jill's life. A man who truly cherished her, and put her needs above his own; she hadn't known that could exist. But it would not last. She was reminded each day as she saw fellow agents around the valley questioning townspeople, chasing down leads. The late nights she'd spend searching the island for where the drugs were being grown were also a constant reminder. She would get at best two hours of sleep at night. Jill was hitting more and more dead ends. The longer she stayed, the more she fell for Marlin. She could no longer separate her feelings from the investigation. A good agent would have taken herself off the case, but Jill was no longer sure that she was a good agent. Thoughts like that would have brought panic before this assignment. Jill longed to be able to confide in someone about how she felt, but no one in the Valley knew about her real job. She briefly thought about her mother; but anything said to her mother, would be told to her father. Jill's conflicted thoughts were left untouched. Instead she threw herself into spending time with Marlin, and working on the case.

"We're missing something!" Jill shouted to herself slamming her fist on the table. Papers that were scattered over the table went flying in different directions. She'd been studying the evidence for the past few hours.

"Don't think that's going to help," said a familiar voice. Jill whirled around. Bob was leaning against the doorframe of her dining room. He had a .45 holstered at his hip. She'd seen that stance enough times before and knew how quickly he could draw his weapon. She decided against trying to run, or fight him. "What not happy to see me?"

"How long have you been there?" Jill asked ignoring his question. She would not let him shake her. She cursed herself for being so unprepared.

"Quite a while, my dear. You are slipping," Bob mused.

"Why did you kill Rock?" Jill asked. Bob chuckled.

"I always loved that about you, you always get straight to the point," he started walking towards her. She inched slowly back.

"What exactly do you want?" Jill asked, forcing herself to keep a steady voice.

"I'm impressed Jillian. Your training is kicking in. Remember I know all the tricks you do. Possibly even more," he pulled out his gun and aimed directly at Jill's face. She felt her heart start pounding faster. Her eyes darted around the room. "I'm not going to kill you Jillian, not as long as you cooperate. I want you to put your hand on your head, turn around and back up slowly, you know the drill..."

"Bob is this really necessary?" Jill asked. Bob was going to bind her. She couldn't allow that to happen.

"Shut up Jill! Just do as I say, also if you try anything I've got an associate listening in who will kill your little lover boy." Bob's smile was vicious. Jill gritted her teeth. She complied grudgingly.

"What exactly do you want?" Jill asked.

"To talk." Bob replied.

"Then is all this necessary?" Bob took her hands and placed metal cuffs around her wrists. He pulled over a chair and roughly pushed her down onto the chair. He continued to bind her legs to the it. He softly caressed her face. Jill pulled away from his touch.

"You used to like that," Bob replied.

"You used to be one of the good guys," Jill retorted. Bob chuckled.

"Good is such a subjective term, Jillian." He walked behind Jill and nuzzled against her cheek. Jill fought against the revulsion. "I had hoped maybe I could recruit you."

"It's only a matter of time till you're caught," Jill said through gritted teeth.

"Ah Jillian," Bob sighed. He walked back in front of her. "You're going to help me escape."

"Like hell I am," Jill retorted. Bob grabbed her chin roughly.

"You know at one point I used to think that we'd be together. But you never loved me did you Jillian? It was always about the job. How ironic that you fell for the man who was supposed to be your distraction," Bob said bitterly.

"So he's not involved?" Jill asked.

"Do you think I'm dumb enough to have on of my associates investigated by you?" Bob asked. "At one point you were the best. This man has made you soft." Jill tried to turn away as he drew closer, but he held her face firmly in place. He closed the last bit of distance between them. She felt a wave of revulsion overcome her. How had she ever thought that his touch was enjoyable. She kept her lips rigid. Bob drew back angrily. He raised his hand and it connected hard against her cheek. She resisted the urge to cry out. "I thought I told you to cooperate."

"I did," Jill responded. Bob pulled her hair, forcing her to look up at him.

"No you didn't," he warned. She could easily do what he wanted. She had done it many times before. She knew how to detach herself from a man's touch. But she didn't want to.

"What do you want?" Jill asked.

"You. I always have. But I see that's not an option so I'll settle for your help."

"I'm not going to help you," Jill stated.

"Oh but you will Jillian." Bob pulled a syringe and plunged it into her neck. She sank into the darkness that overcame her.


	16. Chapter 15

**I am really enjoying the way this story is going. I was having a bit of trouble, but I think I am back on track. anyway I hope you enjoy this. Please let me know what you think. **

Jill awoke suddenly. She was lying in her bed. Her head hurt. She went to rub her temples, it was then she noticed that she was tied down. She suddenly remembered about her evening visitor. She scanned the room looking for Bob. The room appeared to be empty. Jill struggled against her restraints, but Bob knew how to tie a knot that even she would not be able to wiggle her way out of. She sighed, looking around her room wondering if Takakura would be able to hear her. It was still dark, he would undoubtedly still be asleep. She started yelling out.

"Hello!" She yelled. Her bedroom door opened. Bob stood in the door frame.

"Welcome back to the world my dear," Bob greeted. "I wouldn't recommend yelling out right now. We still have so much to talk about."

"There's nothing that I want to talk to you about except for who your associates are."

"Ah Jillian so proper. This is so typical of you. I am merely here to talk to you. To show you that the world does not exist in black and white like you think. Like you daddy taught you. For once why don't you think for yourself." Jill's eyes narrowed. Bob knew about her relationship with her father. She had once stupidly thought that Bob was someone that she could rely on. She had trusted him as a confidant. She was now angry that he knew so much about her. She would not allow him to use the information he knew to manipulate her. Whatever she thought about the agency at this point, she still knew what her convictions were.

"It's not going to work," Jill stated back evenly. Bob smiled and sat on the bed next to her.

"You are still the same Jillian. But I have a feeling that can change," Bob stated. "You are your own person, you don't always have to do what Daddy tells you to do you know." Bob brought his face closer to Jill's again. She lay still, refusing to give him the satisfaction of any reaction; either good or bad. She knew he wanted to see her react to his touch. He kissed her gently on the cheek.

"You're right Bob. But I'm not doing this for my father," Jill answered.

"Don't lie to yourself Jillian, it's not flattering. You always do what your father wants you to do. It's like a drug. You cannot escape his influence."

"I am not ruled by my father."

"Join me, imagine what kind of money you could make. You could quit the agency, you could be with that pretty boy farmer," Bob continued.

"I don't want to join you. I don't want to be with that farmer, I just want to get this job finished and leave this god-forsaken place," Jill said firmly. She knew as well as Bob did that she was lying. She did want to be with Marlin. She did want to stay here in the Valley, and a part of her was sick of always following what her father wanted her to do. But she also knew that even though she was not sure she wanted to be with the agency anymore after this assignment, she was certain she did not want to pursue a life of crime. She especially did not want to pursue anything with Bob. His betrayal made her angry.

"I know you Jillian, sadly I also love you," Bob admitted. Jill could not hide the look of shock on her face. "Larkin was an idiot, he could never handle you, but I truly love you. He was a nuisance."

"Wait? did you blow our cover? Are you the reason why Larkin is dead?" Jill asked.

"Does it matter?" Bob asked bitterly. Jill could hear his control slipping. He was allowing his emotions to pull through. She could play on his emotions.

"It does matter Bob," Jill said emphatically. "It matters."

"Larkin was just a a means to an end."

"Me?"

"Yes you, this has always been about you. I wanted you out here. I wanted you to miss me damn it!" Bob shouted. Jill watched Bob carefully. This was a side of Bob she had not known about. She had never imagined that he wanted to be with her. He always seemed to understand the arrangement they'd had, or so she had thought. She knew Bob was unstable at the moment. She had to tread very carefully with what she said to him.

"Bob, I-"

"Shut up!" Bob interrupted. He rubbed his hand over his face. He chuckled softly. "You certainly did a good job trying to get me riled up there. You really are good." He caressed the side of her face. "I really could use you in my operation."

"I believe I've already told you where I stand on that," Jill said.

"You might regret that," Bob advised. She was finally starting to be afraid. If she didn't join Bob was he planning on killing her? She now officially knew that he was involved, and he had all but admitted to sabotaging her last assignment, and getting Larkin killed. This was not going to be easy to talk him down from whatever it was that he had planned. She was at his mercy at the moment, and she needed to convince him somehow to keep her alive. Her heart pounded faster.

"Are you going to kill me?" Jill asked frankly. Bob looked taken aback. She had finally caught him off guard.

"I would never dream of killing you." He looked down at her with a tenderness.

"You'd have one of your goons do it for you," Jill spat out. Bob laughed again.

"I am still hoping that I will be able to convince you of joining me, I have no desire to see you dead my dear girl," Bob said.

"Don't call me that." Bob lowered his head to hers and pressed his lips against hers. She once again kept her lips rigid, Bob didn't seem to care this time. He continued to press on. Jill closed her eyes. She heard the tearing of fabric, and she jolted from the sound. Her knee jerked up, Bob doubled over, but it seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.

"I-I'm sorry Jillian," Bob sighed. "I don't want to hurt you. I want the opposite. I want you to realize what we could be. This is a great operation I've got going, you could help me run it. With you at my side no one would ever catch us."

"I'm going to take your operation down," Jill said firmly.

"That's your choice isn't it?" Bob asked. Jill nodded. "Then I have no choice." He brought out another syringe. Jill struggled against her restraints to no avail. She felt a sharp sting and fell into the darkness again.

* * *

Marlin stepped up to the farm. He was beginning to worry about Jill. Nobody had heard from her for two days. It was very unlike Jill to stay hidden in her home. He was worried about many things. He wondered if they had jumped into things too quickly. Perhaps she was starting to regret being with him. He instantly felt stupid for that line of thinking. He was starting to act like a teenage girl worried about her crush. With Jill it was so much more than that. He knew that Jill was someone significant. She made him feel like he could love someone again. It both scared him, and exhilarated him at the same time. He and Jill had spent an amazing weekend together, but ever since Rock's death she had seemed distracted. Perhaps that was why she had holed herself up. But that hadn't even made sense to him. She had been fine just after, if she would have had that type of reaction, he felt that it would have been before.

But he stood now at her door, he could no longer take the wondering and the what if scenarios. Even Vesta had suggested that he go over to Jill's house to check on her. The night before Muffy had asked if he had seen her.

"I'm worried about Jill," Muffy had said. "No one has heard from nor seen her in a few days. I don't know if she's ok. I tried going to her farm earlier and knocked, and there was no response. Has she talked to you?" Marlin had not been able to speak. Instead he just shook his head no. Last night he had decided to go over there, but had flaked out at the last moment, for fear that she really was just avoiding him. However he had woken up this morning wondering if Jill really was in trouble. He had to get over his stupid pride and go check on her.

He lifted his hand to knock on the door. There was no answer. The door was unlocked. He slowly turned the knob. All the lights in the house were off, and all the shades were drawn. She was not in the main room. He made his way to the back where her bedroom was. For some unknown reason his heart was pounding. He wasn't sure what he would find. He wondered if he would find her dead in the bedroom. He never would have had thoughts like that before Rock's murder. The murderer was still on the loose. He opened the door to Jill's bedroom slowly. Jill was laying in her bed at an awkward angle. He could not see if she was breathing.

"Jill!" He called out. She didn't move. He rushed over to her bed. Her eyes were firmly closed. She was not moving. He instantly rushed out of the house to alert Takakura.

"Call the doctor!" Marlin shouted. "There's something wrong with Jill!"


End file.
